Justice versus Conscience

Ray Krone’s story is a powerful example of wrongful conviction in the U.S. He was sentenced to death in 1992 for the murder of a woman named Kim Ancona in Phoenix, Arizona, based largely on flawed bite mark evidence. After spending more than a decade in prison—two years of that on death row—Krone was exonerated in 2002 when DNA evidence proved his innocence and pointed to another man as the true perpetrator. His wrongful conviction was one of the first cases to bring attention to the unreliability of forensic evidence like bite marks.

After his exoneration, Ray Krone became a vocal advocate for criminal justice reform, particularly focusing on abolishing the death penalty. He now works with Witness to Innocence, an organization composed of death row exonerees that aims to educate the public about the flaws in the justice system and the dangers of wrongful executions. The group also works toward ending capital punishment in the United States. Witness to Innocence has been supported by The Atlantic Philanthropies (Atlantic), which was one of the largest funders of initiatives to abolish the death penalty in the U.S.

Atlantic has played a significant role in financing death penalty abolition efforts, including legal defenses, advocacy campaigns, and public education efforts aimed at revealing the inherent risks of wrongful convictions and state-sanctioned executions. Through its support of organizations like Witness to Innocence, Atlantic has helped elevate the voices of exonerees like Ray Krone, who can speak directly to the grave errors in the justice system.

Krone’s advocacy work and personal story have made him a key figure in the broader movement to end the death penalty across America.