Craig Coley was never a wealthy man. There was a time, before he was wrongfully convicted of murder and spent nearly four decades in prison, when he juggled multiple jobs to afford a home. Those days now seem far away.

On Saturday, the city of Simi Valley, Calif., announced that it had reached a $21 million settlement with Mr. Coley, 71, in connection with his 1980 murder conviction that was overturned in 2017 after DNA evidence proved he was not the killer.

For Mr. Coley, the news has been overwhelming. But in a phone interview arranged by lawyers on Monday, he made one thing clear: “There is no money that can replace what I lost.”

“When I heard about this award they granted to me I was taken aback even though I knew the possibility was there,” he said. “The whole situation, the reason I am getting the money is where it starts — none of it is normal.”