Ray Krone (pictured, center) was convicted and sentenced to death in 1992 for the murder Kim Ancona in Arizona. Krone’s conviction was eventually overturned. He was re-tried and again convicted in 1996. Finally, in 2002, DNA testing excluded Krone from the crime and he was freed. Now another man has pleaded guilty to the offense. Kenneth Phillips, Jr. was sentenced to a term of 53 years to life in prison for the murder and sexual assault on August 18, 2006. DNA evidence linked Phillips to the crime. Initially, the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office sought the death penalty against Phillips but dropped the request because of mitigating evidence presented by the defense.
(Arizona Daily Star and Associated Press, Aug. 19, 2006). At the time of his release, Ray Krone was the 100th inmate to be freed from death row after being cleared of all charges since 1973. There have now been 123 such cases.
See Innocence and Arbitrariness.
