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Lipstick
Killer | Wrongful convictions
| Wilton Dedge | Martin
Tenkleff | Lonnie Erby
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Roy Crone
From death row to TV 'Makeover'
By Richard Willing, USA
TODAY, February 8, 2005
Ray Krone's crooked front teeth helped land him on Arizona's
death row after a police dentist wrongly linked him to unusually
shaped bite marks on a murder victim.
Ray Krone, a former postman,
spent 10 years in Arizona prisons, including three on death row,
for a murder for which he was wrongly convicted.
By Tom Queally, ABC
Now, with the help of reality
television, Krone is hiding the evidence against him.
Krone, once described in Phoenix
newspapers as the "snaggletooth killer," was exonerated
in 2002 after DNA tests matched another man to the murder of
a Phoenix barmaid. He has had his five front teeth replaced courtesy
of ABC's Extreme Makeover.
For kicks, the program's doctors
threw in some corrective eye surgery, a chin tuck, hair transplants
and a laser-driven repaving of decades-old acne scars.
The new and revised Krone is
set to be unveiled on an episode Thursday at 8 p.m. It was filmed
last month in Dover, Pa., Krone's hometown, after he had spent
two months having surgery in Los Angeles. The program's producers
won't say, but Krone's lawyer, Christopher Plourd, estimated
that the bill for all his repairs topped $200,000.
"I know inside it's still
me and nothing has changed," says Krone, 48.
"But I look in the mirror
and say, 'Wow, I look 15 years younger. I'm really starting to
grow on myself.' "
In Krone's case, it's fitting
that the odometer be rolled back.
The former postman spent 10
years in Arizona prisons, including three on death row, for a
murder in 1989 for which he was wrongly convicted. Krone was
retried after an appeal, then convicted again and given a life
sentence, in part based on testimony that his jagged front teeth
matched a bite mark on the victim's body.
Since his exoneration, Krone
has been writing and lecturing against the death penalty and
working odd jobs. He says that he would like to settle down but
that dating has proven difficult because of his long absence
from society and "frankly, my teeth."
"It works on my self-confidence,
especially since I can't forget that they had something to do
with what happened to me," Krone says. "It's like,
'So what do you do?' And I'm like, 'Well, I've been working on
getting exonerated from a murder I didn't do.' "
Extreme Makeover, which began in 2003, generally lavishes
its gifts on frowzy women and nerdy guys. The program was drawn
to Krone, executive producer Lou Gorfain says, because he is
"articulate" and his story draws attention to injustices
in trials and sentencing.
"Who's more deserving
of a makeover?" Gorfain asks. "We want to give him
back some of the time he lost in prison."
Unveiling new-look Krone
- Friends will see the made-over
man for the first time this week.
- By TERESA ANN BOECKEL
Daily Record/Sunday News
Monday, January
17, 2005
On Wednesday, his 48th birthday,
Ray Krone will reveal his new image to family and friends in
York.
His sister, Amy Wilkinson,
can't wait to see him.
She wonders what he looks like
now that he has undergone dental work, a hair transplant, a nose
job and plastic surgery through ABC's "Extreme Makeover"
show.
Producers wanted to make Krone,
the 100th person exonerated by DNA after serving time on death
row, look 10 years younger - the amount of time he spent in prison.
"Are we going to know
Uncle Ray?" Wilkinson asked her 4?-year-old daughter, Hannah
Rae.
"Yes, we're going to know
Uncle Ray," Hannah said.
Wednesday will be the first
time Krone's family and friends will be able to see him since
he flew to California in November for the makeover. Camera crews
will film their reaction when he reveals himself at the Valencia
Ballroom in York that night.
Krone, who didn't want to turn
into someone his loved ones would not recognize, said he is happy
with his new look.
"I don't think I'll have
to get new ID cards," he said last week, but he added that
he is surprised when he sees himself.
Krone hasn't shared with his
family what he looks like because it is supposed to be "a
total surprise."
His mother, Carolyn Leming,
has been helping to invite a limited number of guests to the
big event. The ones she has asked immediately responded, "Oh,
yes, we'd love to come."
"They're just happy to
be a part of it," she said.
For Krone, who was once called
"the Snaggletooth Killer," the show just isn't about
getting a makeover. It's an opportunity to push his message that
the criminal justice system - especially the death penalty -
is flawed.
Krone, who grew up in Dover
Township, was convicted twice in the 1991 murder of a Phoenix
bartender and served time on death row. A bite mark was a key
piece of evidence used to convict him.
Krone was exonerated in 2002
after DNA evidence pointed to another man in the FBI's database.
Unless people are interested
in the death penalty issue, they are not aware of what is happening
with the justice system, Wilkinson said. The show reaches millions
of viewers.
It will allow her brother to
reach a larger audience and further his message, which she thinks
is great.
Wilkinson attended a talk earlier
this month at Barnes & Noble in Lancaster on Rachel King's
new book, "Capital Consequences: Families of the Condemned
Tell Their Stories."
It went well, Wilkinson said,
but "I still wish there would be more people who would take
the time to listen."
The special two-hour "Extreme
Makeover" show is expected to air next month. One hour of
it will be dedicated to Krone's story.
While in California, Krone
had time to do some sightseeing and meet famous people.
He met Jesse James, who owns
West Coast Choppers in Long Beach, Calif., and took a tour of
his motorcycle shop, where the Discovery Channel's "Monster
Garage" is filmed. Krone told James that he watched "Monster
Garage" while in prison. It gave him and other inmates a
way of escaping the walls and bars and a feeling of freedom.
Krone also met Jessica Simpson
and Nick Lachey at a dentist's office. He was filmed talking
to the stars of MTV's "Newlyweds: Nick & Jessica"
reality show.
Krone talked with the couple
about his case and his new teeth. Krone described Simpson and
Lachey as "super people - really, really nice."
The episode of Simpson and
Lachey's show on which Krone will appear is not expected to air
until after his "Extreme Makeover" does, Krone said.
Producers of the "Extreme
Makeover" show even took Krone shopping on Rodeo Drive for
his reveal. He will wear a handmade suit that cost $5,000.
"I don't even drive cars
worth $5,000," Krone said.
Wilkinson said she doesn't
know what to expect Wednesday night.
"I'm just excited,"
she said. "I can't wait to see what he looks like."
DNA frees Arizona inmate after 10 years
in prison
10 years included time on death row
By Dennis Wagner Beth DeFalco,
and Patricia Biggs, The Arizona Republic
April 09, 2002 12:00:00
Ray Krone walked out of Arizona
State Prison at Yuma on Monday, freed by DNA evidence after serving
10 years and
facing the death penalty for a murder he didn't commit.
During a phone call moments
before he stepped into the Arizona sunshine, Krone's voice quavered
with emotion. "There's
tears in my eyes," he said. "Your heart's beating.
You can't hardly talk."
Freedom came just hours after
Maricopa County Attorney Rick Romley held a news conference to
acknowledge that
Krone almost certainly did not sexually assault and kill cocktail
waitress Kim Ancona at a Phoenix lounge in 1991.
Romley said new evidence not
only vindicates Krone, but points directly at Kenneth Phillips,
36, who is serving time in
Florence for an unrelated sex crime.
Prosecutors are considering
investigating whether to charge Phillips, Romley said.
Romley and Phoenix Police Chief
Harold Hurtt announced that they would ask for Krone's release
pending a hearing next month to vacate the murder conviction.
Both officials stressed that detectives and prosecutors who won
Krone's conviction were operating with strong circumstantial
evidence. However, they said, new DNA findings make it clear
that they had the wrong man.
"He (Krone) deserves an
apology from us, that's for sure," Romley said. "A
mistake was made here. . . . What do you say to him? An injustice
was done and we will try to do better. And we're sorry."
Krone refused to place blame
for his decade behind bars.
"I'm not pointing fingers.
. . . Maybe it was a mistake, maybe incompetence," he said.
But he made it clear that he felt betrayed by the justice system.
Even after his first conviction,
Krone said, he lived by a mantra: "I didn't do it, so how
could there be unquestionable evidence that I did?"
Krone was sentenced to death,
spending two years and eight months in Cellblock 6 in Florence,
watching other condemned inmates taken away for execution.
Krone maintained hope when
a second trial was granted but says he gave up when, in his mind,
jurors ignored overwhelming evidence and testimony in his favor.
When the life sentence came down, Krone said, "that pretty
much ruled out all the faith I had in truth and justice."
Krone said he tried to focus
on being strong for friends and family who supported him. He
read from his Bible each night, and said a prayer "for the
truth to come out and, Lord, change the hearts of my accusers."
Bite marks convincing
Once labeled the "snaggletooth
killer," Krone was convicted largely on circumstantial evidence,
particularly expert testimony that bite marks found on the victim
matched his teeth.
No DNA evidence was submitted
in the first trial, and genetic tracing results provided for
the second trial merely failed to preclude him as the perpetrator.
But all of that changed after
defense attorney Alan Simpson obtained a court order, and Phoenix
police produced new results.
On Monday, prosecutor William
Culbertson told Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Alfred Fenzel
that DNA found in saliva on the victim's tank top did not come
from Krone. In fact, chances are 1.3 quadrillion to one that
it came from Phillips, the Florence prison inmate.
Culbertson said that information
was bolstered by two discoveries.
First, lab results show that
Phillips has type O blood, the same as that found at the crime
scene.
Second, a dental expert said
he "cannot eliminate Phillips as the person who left the
bite mark" on Ancona's breast.
During a recent interview with
Simpson at the Arizona Department of Corrections facility in
Florence, Phillips purportedly admitted seeing Ancona in the
men's room at the CBS Lounge the night she died. He said he needed
to use the restroom, but she told him to leave because she was
cleaning it. Ancona's body was found in the men's room the next
morning, stabbed to death.
"Kim died a very violent
death," Simpson noted after Monday's hearing. "In all
the excitement for my client, we have to pause and remember that
a young lady didn't
deserve to die."
Meanwhile, Fenzel ruled that
it would be an injustice to keep Krone in custody any longer.
After ordering his immediate
release, he set a follow-up hearing for 10:30 this morning. Krone
will not be allowed to leave the state and cannot have any contact
with the victim's family or any potential witnesses until the
evidentiary hearing April 29.
Looking for a good meal
Around 5 p.m. Monday, Krone
traded his orange prison jumpsuit for blue jeans and a T-shirt,
then walked away from the Cheyenne Unit, a 30-man dorm in the
Yuma prison.
He said he was desperate for
a good meal after years of prison food, maybe seafood and a milkshake.
John Ontiveros, an assistant
deputy warden who also knew Krone on death row, said Krone signed
autographs for other inmates and then made a cellphone call to
his mother before walking out the door.
He is the second Arizona convict
to be exonerated by DNA evidence, and the first after facing
execution.
Before the murder, he said,
he viewed capital punishment as something for mass murderers
and vicious criminals. Now?
"They would have executed
me," he said. "Could I have any faith in it anymore?
Absolutely not. I can't be the only one. . . . People need to
address this issue."
Earlier, Romley and Hurtt defended
the death penalty. "The system may not be perfect, but it's
the best in the world," Hurtt argued.
Parents celebrate
Krone's parents, Carolyn and
Jim Leming of Pennsylvania, saved his 1970 Corvette for him.
As soon as they got word Monday, the couple started packing for
a long drive to Phoenix.
"We just have to thank
God that this worked out finally, and have to thank all of our
friends and family who have stood behind Ray all these years,"
Carolyn said.
She questioned why her son
was not released immediately after the DNA specimens found on
Ancona were traced to Phillips. But she gave credit to Romley,
calling him "an honest and fair person" because he
was willing to apologize.
Leming predicted that her son
will get on with life immediately, adding, "He won't let
bitterness or anger or a woe-is-me attitude keep him from living."
100th
Death Row Inmate Exonerated
Former death row inmate Ray Krone
was released from prison on Monday in Arizona after DNA testing
showed that he did not commit the murder for which he was convicted
10 years ago.
Maricopa County Attorney Rick Romley
and Phoenix Police Chief Harold Hurtt announced at a news conference
on Monday that new DNA tests vindicated Krone and that they would
seek his release pending a hearing next month to vacate the murder
conviction. Romley stated, "[Krone] deserves an apology
from us, that's for sure. A mistake was made here. . . . What
do you say to him? An injustice was done and we will try to do
better. And we're sorry."
Krone was first convicted in 1992, based
largely on circumstantial evidence and testimony that bite marks
on the victim matched Krone's teeth. He was sentenced to death.
Three years later he received a new trial, but was again found
guilty and sentenced to life in prison in 1996. Krone's post-conviction
defense attorney, Alan Simpson, obtained a court order for DNA
tests. The results not only exculpated Krone, but they pointed
to another man, Kenneth Phillips, as the assailant. Prosecutor
William Culbertson told Maricopa County Superior Court Judge
Alfred Fenzel that the chances are 1.3 quadrillion to one that
DNA found in saliva on the victim's tank top came from Phillips.
(The Arizona Republic, 4/9/02)
Krone is the 100th inmate freed from
death row since 1973 and the 12th in which DNA testing played
a substantial factor.
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Truth can never be
told so as to be understood, and not be believ'd.