You're ashamed to admit it, but you are occasionally tantalized by the spate of trashy reality shows on TV. You're dying for a legitimate, morally irreproachable ground for watching one. Here's your chance.
Ray Krone, the 100th person to be exonerated from death row, will be featured on this Thursday's "Extreme Makeover" on ABC. (Feb. 10, 8PM/7PM Central)
I happen to have met Ray Krone, an innocent man who spent ten years in prison and two on death row after being tagged the "Snaggletooth Killer" and wrongly convicted of murder. This Thursday's show will be a momentous media event for all who are opposed to the death penalty -- or even opposed to the way the death penalty is administered.
If you are one of those people, please spread the word. People need to hear Ray's story (more of which is below).
Much of the following background comes from
here and
here.
Ray Krone was accused of sexually assaulting and killing a cocktail waitress in Phoenix, Arizona, in 1991. The primary evidence against him was a purported match between his teeth and bitemarks found on the victim -- thus, the "Snaggletooth Killer" moniker. He was tried and convicted twice based largely on this evidence.
No DNA evidence was presented at the first trial, and testing introduced at the second trial merely failed to preclude the possibility that he was the perpetrator.
Years later, DNA testing was conducted on saliva that had been found on the victim's shirt. The testing conclusively showed that the saliva did not come from Krone. (The odds were 1.3 quadrillion-to-one.) This DNA evidence -- along with blood testing -- pointed squarely at another man. And that man's teeth also matched the bitemarks.
Krone was released from death row, a free man. He was the 100th person exonerated from death row since the re-institution of the death penalty, which has made him a well-known figure in the anti-capital punishment community. Based on his experience, Krone immediately became active against the death penalty:
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."
Now Krone will get to tell his story to the world on a prime time network show watched by millions:
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.
...
Unless people are interested in the death penalty issue, they are not aware of what is happening with the justice system, [his sister Amy] 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."
If you're opposed to the death penalty, or if you're in favor of reforming it, you should encourage everyone you know to watch this show. If you're in favor of the death penalty, watch it for your own sake. People need to know these stories and these facts in order to make an educated judgment about capital punishment.
Thursday, 8PM/7PM central. ABC.
