The sinister story of the ‘Snaggletooth Murder’: Inside the desperate hunt for killer of 36-year-old bartender whose naked body was found covered in BITE MARKS… as man charged with her ‘sexually depraved’ murder is EXONERATED after 10 years on death row

• Kim Ancona, 36, was found dead at the bar where she worked in Arizona in 1991
• The mom-of-one had been sexually assaulted and stabbed in the neck six times
• Mailman Ray Krone was convicted but exonerated after 10 years on death row 

A popular crime documentary has laid bare the chilling true story of a bartender who was sexually assaulted with a doorstop and stabbed to death in a brutal attack.

Kim Ancona’s lifeless body was found on the floor of the men’s restroom at the bar where she worked in Phoenix, Arizona, in 1991.

The mom-of-one, 36, had been stabbed six times with the killer leaving behind a slew of evidence – including distinctive bite marks on her body.

Mailman Ray Krone was convicted of her murder but was ultimately exonerated after 10 years on death row when the real killer was finally caught.

Here, FEMAIL has laid bare the disturbing realities surrounding the case after an episode of Crime Scene Confidential delves deeper into the ‘Snaggletooth Murder.’

Kim Ancona’s lifeless body was found on the floor of the men’s restroom at the bar where she worked in Phoenix, Arizona, in 1991

The harrowing story began on December 29, 1991, as the owner of CBS Restaurant and Lounge arrived to open up just after 8am 

The harrowing story began on December 29, 1991, as the owner of CBS Restaurant and Lounge arrived to open up just after 8am.

After stepping inside, he soon found night manager Kim dead on the floor of the men’s bathroom. 

She was nude and lying in a pool of blood with six stab wounds around her neck and on her back.

Her clothes were left scattered around the floor along with a number of wooden shims that had been used as door stops. 

Authorities said that one of the slithers, which was covered in blood, ‘looked like the perpetrator used it to insert into Kim’s body.’ 

The ‘sexual depravity’ left the bartender with ‘multiple tears within the vagina’ and Former Defense Attorney Chris Plourd said: ‘She really suffered in a very painful type of way.’

There was a whole host of other evidence collected – including hairs, drinking glass and shoe print – but detectives struggled to draw any concrete conclusions due to the public space having multiple visitors.

There was also a large boning knife, which appeared to have come from the kitchen at the bar, that had been left in the trash can with a bent eight-inch blade.

Night manager Kim was found nude and lying in a pool of blood on the floor of the men’s bathroom

Her clothes were left scattered around the floor along with a number of wooden shims that had been used as door stops 

Authorities said that one of the slithers, which was covered in blood, ‘looked like the perpetrator used it to insert into Kim’s body’ 

Detectives began to establish a timeline and worked out that Kim had been in the process of cleaning up at the end of the night when she was killed. 

They ruled out robbery as a motivation since Ancona’s purse was still behind the bar and the cash register was full.

During a postmortem, additional evidence was found in the form of distinctive bite marks on Kim’s breast and throat. 

The size and width of the teeth as well as the spaces, gaps and rotations were all analyzed.

It was then determined that the perpetrator appeared to have crooked teeth and were quickly branded as the ‘Snaggletooth Killer’ in the media.

Due to the sexual motivations of the attack, detectives turned their attentions on people Kim, who was recently divorced, had been romantically involved with.

They honed in on a man called Ray Krone who Kim had told friends she had been dating with his name written in her address book.

The mailman, who had previously been part of the United States Air Force, had non-aligned teeth and denied he had had a relationship with Kim – despite there being witnesses to testify otherwise.

He had an alibi for the evening of Kim’s death but detectives still carried out a search warrant of his house.

Detectives began to establish a timeline and worked out that Kim had been in the process of cleaning up at the end of the night when she was attacked

During a postmortem, additional evidence was found in the form of distinctive bite marks on Kim’s breast and throat

Detectives honed in on a man called Ray Krone who Kim had told friends she had been dating with his name written in her address book

They failed to find any damning evidence but took his fingerprints and DNA before also ordering him to bite onto a slither of Styrofoam to compare to the bite marks on Kim’s body.

Not long after, Ray was arrested on New Year’s Eve before being charged with murder, kidnapping and sexual assault.

He was put on trial ten months after Kim’s death with dentist Dr Raymond Rawson being called as a witness to claim that the bite marks belonged to Ray with ‘virtual certainty.’

This became the most convincing piece of evidence for the jury who quickly came back to deliver a guilty verdict – with Ray sentenced to death.

He remain on death row for years before he got a new trial in 1996 with the aid of new technologies and advancements in DNA testing.

The saliva, hairs and fingerprints collected from the scene were found not to match Ray’s own samples.

But with Dr Rawson once again making his assertions about the bitemarks, Ray was found guilty a second time. 

Local man called Kenneth Phillips, who had been living 600 yards from the murder scene at the time of Kim’s death, pleaded guilty in 2006 before receiving a 53-year sentence

Ray felt that his fate was certain until 2002 when a new law granted Arizona prisoners the right to conduct DNA testing on evidence used against them.

And it was at this time that authorities finally got a conclusive match – and it wasn’t Ray.

Instead, it was a local man called Kenneth Phillips, who had been living 600 yards from the murder scene at the time of Kim’s death, who came back as a match.

Phillips had been sent to prison 30 days after the killing on a separate charge – but admitted that he had been at the bar on the night.

He claimed that he could not remember much but did recall getting angry after being cut off from drinking.

The evidence ‘conclusively established’ Phillips’ guilt and he ultimately pleaded guilty in 2006 before receiving a 53-year sentence. 

In the meantime, in 2002, Ray, then 45, was fully exonerated and released from jail.

He has since spent his time talking to schools and groups of people as part of his commitment to non-profit organization Witness to Innocence which is working to abolish the death penalty in America.

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