Shocking Confession: After 12 Years, Kansas Man Exonerated After Being Framed for Murder By His Father’s Caretaker - Main

Turns Out, He Didn't Kill His Dad's Caretaker

By Maria W. • Oct 01, 2024

From the beginning, Pete Coones had a gut feeling something wasn't right about his father's caregiver, Kathleen Schroll. Her behavior seemed off, and her motives even more questionable. But Pete never imagined that his suspicions would evolve into a nightmare that would see him framed for murder and imprisoned for 12 long years. His worst fears were realized when a sinister plot came to light — Schroll wasn't only after his father's money; she was determined to frame Pete for a crime he didn't commit.

The Haunting Phone Call

In April 2008, Kathleen and Carl Schroll were found shot to death in their Kansas City home. Just moments before her death, Kathleen made a frantic phone call to her 78-year-old mother, fabricating a story that implicated Pete Coones in the crime. Authorities took her mother's account at face value, and despite Pete having a solid alibi and little concrete evidence against him, in January 2009 at the age of 52, he was convicted of Kathleen's murder and sentenced to 50 years in prison without the possibility of parole. Pete was acquitted of Carl's murder.

At the time of her death, Pete and Kathleen were locked in a heated legal dispute over his late father, Olin Coones' $42,000 life insurance policy. Pete had previously reported Kathleen to the police for elder abuse after discovering his father in a neglected state, with bed sores, bruises, and facial sores. Just two days before her death, Kathleen had told friends and family she feared for her safety, claiming Pete had been harassing her.

Shocking Confession: After 12 Years, Kansas Man Exonerated After Being Set Up for Murder By His Father’s Caretaker -1

A Caregiver With Ulterior Motives

At the time of Kathleen Schroll's death, she was facing potential criminal charges after authorities discovered she had allegedly stolen over $30,000 from Olin Coones' savings account. Pete Coones also suspected that the online change to his father's life insurance beneficiary, which named Kathleen, had been made without his father's consent.

In addition to these accusations, Kathleen was being investigated for embezzling approximately $11,000 from the credit union where she worked, further adding to her legal troubles. However, before authorities could fully investigate, Kathleen's life ended abruptly and under suspicious circumstances.

The Web of Lies Begins to Unravel

Behind bars, Pete never stopped fighting to prove his innocence. Years of legal efforts and new investigations revealed Kathleen's role as the true architect of the crime. It became clear that Pete's suspicions about her financial misconduct were well-founded — she had been siphoning money from his father's accounts and forging documents before framing Pete to divert attention from her own crimes.

The inconsistencies in Kathleen Schroll's story, combined with growing evidence of her financial fraud, prompted a reinvestigation of the case. This led investigators to uncover new evidence proving Pete Coones' innocence. For instance, they discovered an intact bullet in the Schrolls' pillows, contradicting the claim that Pete had bludgeoned Carl before shooting him twice in the chest. Moreover, swabs taken from Kathleen's hands, which had never been tested, revealed gunshot residue, and the gun itself carried only Kathleen's DNA. There was no physical evidence linking Pete to the crime scene at all.

Defense attorney Lindsay Runnels suggested that Kathleen's motive for framing Pete could have been to ensure her daughter received the life insurance payout, as tying Pete to the murder would clear the way for the policy to be paid out.

A Victory That Came Too Late

In 2020, Pete Coones was finally exonerated after spending 12 years in prison for a crime he didn't commit. Tragically, Pete was robbed of long-awaited time with his family. After being diagnosed with lung cancer, he died at age 64 in February of 2021 — just 108 days after his release from prison.

Pete's exoneration brought some measure of justice, but it was too late to undo the damage caused by Kathleen Schroll's lies. His family, devastated by the years stolen from him, filed a lawsuit against the Kansas City Police Department. They argued that the police suppressed critical evidence, overlooked contradictions, and coerced an unreliable jailhouse informant to make their case; evidence that would have set Pete free.

References: Kansas Man Exonerated After Saying He Was Framed for Murder By Woman Who Took Care of His Elderly Dad | Family of innocent KCK man who served 12 years and died soon after release sues police

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