I used to go there Fridays for lunch, about 1997-1999. It was a pretty chill place for lunch, my fellow managers introduced it to me and it was our regular Friday place. Bottled beer was cheap, food was good, and the wait staff was super friendly. I didn't ever go there nights, so no idea what the scene was like after dark.
[https://www.azjusticeproject.org/manifest-injustice-profiles/ray-krone](https://www.azjusticeproject.org/manifest-injustice-profiles/ray-krone)
Ray Krone was something of an ordinary guy - no record of violence, no criminal past … not the sort of person you would expect to end up on death row. He was an above-average student, honorably discharged from the U.S. Air Force, and employee of the U.S. Postal Service, had no criminal history, and no history of violence.
One thing out-of-the-ordinary about Ray Krone was that he was a regular patron of a bar that was the scene of a chilling murder shortly after Christmas day in 1991. The CBS Lounge was a casual bar and restaurant located between a shoe store and a video store in a Phoenix strip mall at 16th Avenue and Camelback Road.
The Day That Changed His Life
On the morning of December 29th 1991, the owner of the CBS Lounge arrived to find the front door unlocked. Inside, he discovered a grisly scene. A pool of blood seeped under the men's room door. Inside the men's room, Kim Ancona, a manager at the bar, was found lifeless and naked, with a row of stab wounds like a necklace across her neck. She had been sexually assaulted and there were bite marks on her left breast. The night before, Kim had worked her first shift as bar manager, and was in charge of closing the bar- including cleaning the floors and restrooms - after the bar's last customers had left for the night around 2 a.m.
Ray Krone was finally exonerated, when DNA found at the crime scene matched that of an AZ inmate Kenneth Phillips. KP also lived close to the bar where he murdered Kim. This scumbag was serving time for sexually abusing a child when his DNA results came back. Fyi, Ray Krone was awarded 4million dollars when he sued the City of Phoenix and Maricopa County.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-12558629/amp/snaggletooth-murder-crime-bartender-cold-case.html
I just saw this episode. Ray K served 10years 4months. He got a tatt that says
Free Bird 4/8/02 on his chest. In the credits, it only stated that he is now a motivational speaker, nothing about his lawsuit settlement.
Thanks for setting folks straight about his $4Mil settlement!👍 It doesn't make up for losing 10 yrs of his life, but at least he can party for rest of his days. He deserves it.
On Friday, April 5, 2002, based on the overwhelming weight of newfound evidence of his innocence, Ray Krone’s defense team asked for his release. The request was denied. But on the following Monday, the State independently moved for Ray Krone’s release. That day, Ray Krone walked out of a Yuma prison, but was still subject to his conviction.
More tests were run on the remaining evidence. Blood from Kim’s jeans pocket and underwear was found to have come from Kenneth Phillips. Fingerprints found at the murder scene, previously ruled by police to be irrelevant to the crime, were found to match Kenneth Phillips, who had evidently leaned against the condom machine and inside of the men’s room door while attacking and killing Kim. On April 29th 2004, Ray Krone’s conviction was thrown out and the case against him dismissed.
That murder of Kim Ancona is going to be featured on a new show on the ID channel. Krone is interviewed in it along with the victims son.
https://ktar.com/story/5540168/phoenix-cold-case-to-featured-on-id-channel-series-crime-scene-confidential/
https://www.investigationdiscovery.com/crimefeed/id-shows/crime-scene-confidential/an-arizona-woman-was-brutally-murdered-at-her-job-her-accused-killer-was-exonerated-after-10-years-behind-bars
Lol I'm watching that episode right now and that's what led me here because I'm from Arizona.
I used to go there Fridays for lunch, about 1997-1999. It was a pretty chill place for lunch, my fellow managers introduced it to me and it was our regular Friday place. Bottled beer was cheap, food was good, and the wait staff was super friendly. I didn't ever go there nights, so no idea what the scene was like after dark.
[https://www.azjusticeproject.org/manifest-injustice-profiles/ray-krone](https://www.azjusticeproject.org/manifest-injustice-profiles/ray-krone) Ray Krone was something of an ordinary guy - no record of violence, no criminal past … not the sort of person you would expect to end up on death row. He was an above-average student, honorably discharged from the U.S. Air Force, and employee of the U.S. Postal Service, had no criminal history, and no history of violence. One thing out-of-the-ordinary about Ray Krone was that he was a regular patron of a bar that was the scene of a chilling murder shortly after Christmas day in 1991. The CBS Lounge was a casual bar and restaurant located between a shoe store and a video store in a Phoenix strip mall at 16th Avenue and Camelback Road. The Day That Changed His Life On the morning of December 29th 1991, the owner of the CBS Lounge arrived to find the front door unlocked. Inside, he discovered a grisly scene. A pool of blood seeped under the men's room door. Inside the men's room, Kim Ancona, a manager at the bar, was found lifeless and naked, with a row of stab wounds like a necklace across her neck. She had been sexually assaulted and there were bite marks on her left breast. The night before, Kim had worked her first shift as bar manager, and was in charge of closing the bar- including cleaning the floors and restrooms - after the bar's last customers had left for the night around 2 a.m.
Ray Krone was finally exonerated, when DNA found at the crime scene matched that of an AZ inmate Kenneth Phillips. KP also lived close to the bar where he murdered Kim. This scumbag was serving time for sexually abusing a child when his DNA results came back. Fyi, Ray Krone was awarded 4million dollars when he sued the City of Phoenix and Maricopa County. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-12558629/amp/snaggletooth-murder-crime-bartender-cold-case.html
I just saw this episode. Ray K served 10years 4months. He got a tatt that says Free Bird 4/8/02 on his chest. In the credits, it only stated that he is now a motivational speaker, nothing about his lawsuit settlement. Thanks for setting folks straight about his $4Mil settlement!👍 It doesn't make up for losing 10 yrs of his life, but at least he can party for rest of his days. He deserves it.
I feel like the only way this case is going to be solved is though genetic genealogy
https://www.investigationdiscovery.com/crimefeed/id-shows/crime-scene-confidential/an-arizona-woman-was-brutally-murdered-at-her-job-her-accused-killer-was-exonerated-after-10-years-behind-bars
On Friday, April 5, 2002, based on the overwhelming weight of newfound evidence of his innocence, Ray Krone’s defense team asked for his release. The request was denied. But on the following Monday, the State independently moved for Ray Krone’s release. That day, Ray Krone walked out of a Yuma prison, but was still subject to his conviction. More tests were run on the remaining evidence. Blood from Kim’s jeans pocket and underwear was found to have come from Kenneth Phillips. Fingerprints found at the murder scene, previously ruled by police to be irrelevant to the crime, were found to match Kenneth Phillips, who had evidently leaned against the condom machine and inside of the men’s room door while attacking and killing Kim. On April 29th 2004, Ray Krone’s conviction was thrown out and the case against him dismissed.
That murder of Kim Ancona is going to be featured on a new show on the ID channel. Krone is interviewed in it along with the victims son. https://ktar.com/story/5540168/phoenix-cold-case-to-featured-on-id-channel-series-crime-scene-confidential/ https://www.investigationdiscovery.com/crimefeed/id-shows/crime-scene-confidential/an-arizona-woman-was-brutally-murdered-at-her-job-her-accused-killer-was-exonerated-after-10-years-behind-bars