Ray Krone

Ray Krone is the 100th American and 1st Arizonan [cite news
last = Grado
first = Gary
title = A case of mistaken identity
publisher = East Valley Tribune
date = 11-06-2005
url = http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/52488
accessdate = 2007-11-14 ] to be exonerated from Death Row since the 1973 moratorium stemming from Furman v. Georgia. Originally sentenced to death in 1992, he was granted a new trial in 1994 and sentenced to 46 years in prison. Finally, in 2002, through the use of DNA evidence, he was able to prove his lack of guilt and was released with all charges dropped after spending 10 years and 4 months in the Arizona prison system. As of 2007, Ray Krone serves as director of communications and training for the organization Witness to Innocence. He has given numerous interviews, lectures, and testimony of his story to schools, media, and governments, as well as the United Nations.

Pre-arrest life

Krone grew up in the small town of Dover, Pennsylvania and graduated from Dover Area High School in 1974. He was a former Boy Scout and high school athlete, and after graduating from high school, he enlisted in the United States Air Force, rising to the rank of sergeant. After the Air Force, he relocated to Phoenix, Arizona and gained employment with the US Postal Service.

Krone was a regular customer at the CBS Lounge restaurant in Phoenix, and engaged in several amateur sporting leagues. On, December 29, 1991, bar manager Kimberly Ancona was found murdered and raped in the restroom of the Lounge, and a police investigation began.

The investigation narrowed on Krone as an early suspect. Several bite marks on Ancona's body were irregular in shape, which led police to suspect Krone. Krone had suffered from a serious automobile accident in his youth which required extensive jaw and dental surgery. Additionally, a witness claimed that Acona was closing the bar along with someone named "Ray." [cite news
last = Grado
first = Gary
title = County to pay nearly $1.6 million to settle lawsuits
publisher = East Valley Tribune
date= 2005-03-23
url = http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/38394
accessdate = 2007-11-14 ] Several facts countered this evidence, including:

*Krone's roommate testified that both were at home during all relevant times of the night of the murder
*Krone's shoe size was 10-1/2, while footprints at the murder scene were 9-1/2 and of a brand Krone did not own
*Finger prints taken at the scene did not match Krone's, nor were any of his own finger prints found
*Foreign body hair found on Ancona did not match Krone's

Indictment and conviction

The Maricopa County Attorney charged Krone with first-degree murder.

Krone was dubbed the "Snaggletooth Killer" because one of his top front teeth stuck out. Dr. Raymond Rawson, a nationally known forensic odontologist, testified that he was 100% certain the bite mark on the victim matched Krone. The jury convicted him and the trial judge, Jeffrey Hotham, noted lingering doubts about his guilt and sentenced Krone to death. The Supreme Court of Arizona granted a new trial based on the fact that the trial court should have granted a continuance or excluded certain evidenced used by the prosecution that was disclosed only a day in advance of the trial commencement. Following a retrial before another judge, the jury again convicted Krone. This time the trial court sentenced him to life imprisonment, citing doubts about whether Krone was the killer. In 2001, DNA testing of blood found on the victim was matched to the actual killer, Kenneth Phillips, and Krone was released April 8, 2002 after serving 10 1/3 years.

Exoneration

It was later learned that prior to the second trial, the prosecuting attorney had been personally told by two of the country’s most respected dental forensic experts that there was "no way" the teeth marks on Ancona’s body were made by Krone. The experts asserted the prosecution’s dental expert was wrong to identify Krone as the source of the bite marks. Not only did the prosecutor not inform the defense of this exculpatory information, but he proceeded with seeking the death penalty.

In 2001, through attorney Alan Simpson, Krone asked the trial court to order new DNA testing. The prosecution, through attorney Patricia Nigro, opposed the request. Ms. Nigro stated that the bite marks were a match, the victim's statements incriminated Krone, he made inconsistent statements to police, footprints found at the crime scene were "approximately the same size" as Krone's size, and beads found on the victim matched beads found in Krone's car. Ms. Nigro also argued that new DNA results would not resolve the issue of identity.

New testing established that DNA found on the victim matched Kenneth Phillips. As a consequence, on April 24, 2002, the prosecution, through attorney William Culbertson, asked for a new trial and dismissal. In the State's request, Mr. Culbertson noted that "there is no forensic evidence (no fingerprints, no DNA, no hairs and no blood) linking Ray Krone to the murder of Kim Anacona." Phillip's DNA was on the victim's tank top, jeans, and panties. Moreover, his fingerprints were found on a condom machine in the men's restroom and on the inside portion of the door to the bar where the murder happened. Mr. Culbertson notes that another of the State's expert witnesses, John Piakis, who previously testified at the earlier trials and linked Krone to the bite marks, has verified that that the marks found on the victim "is more consistent" with Phillip's bite.

Phillips pleaded guilty to the crime and is now serving a life sentence. Unlike Krone, Phillips did not have crooked teeth.

In 2004, Krone came to the attention of the TV show "Extreme Makeover", and agreed to a makeover that included the replacement of five of his front teeth. The program documenting his transformation was broadcast in February 2005. In April 2005, Krone was awarded $1.4 million by Maricopa County and in September he was awarded $3 million by the city of Phoenix. In February 2006, the Arizona Legislature publicly apologized to him.

ee also

* List of exonerated death row inmates

References

* [http://www.ccadp.org/raykrone.htm Canadian Coalition Against the Death Penalty]
* [http://justicedenied.org/issue/issue_32/jd_issue_32.pdf Justice Denied - Issue 32]