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Ray Krone
Ray Krone spent more than a decade in prison, some of it on death row, before DNA testing cleared his name. He is the 100th former death row inmate exonerated since the reinstatement of capital punishment in the United States in 1976. And he is the 12th death row inmate whose innocence has been proven through post-conviction DNA testing. Prior to his arrest, Krone had no previous criminal record, had been honorably discharged from the Air Force, and had worked for the postal service in Arizona for seven years.
On December 31, 1991, Ray Krone was arrested and charged with the murder, kidnapping, and sexual assault of a woman who was his friend. Although he consistently maintained his innocence, he was sentenced to death and a consecutive 21-year term of imprisonment. He won a new trial on appeal in 1996 but was convicted again. In that trial, however, the judge sentenced him to life in prison, citing doubts about whether or not Krone was the true killer. It was not until 2002, after Ray Krone had served more than 10 years in prison, that DNA testing proved his innocence and positively identify the true perpetrator. Ray Krone's story was featured in the book, "Death Penalty on Trial." Today, he spends much of his time opposing the death penalty system that initially failed him and traveling the United States and world to share his experiences.
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