Helping to free the innocent and providing care when they come home
Help Free & Care for the Innocent
Miracle of Innocence is committed to helping free and care for men and women who are innocent of crimes they did not commit. The individuals listed below are amazing people who have suffered injustices. Most are serving life sentences for crimes they did not commit. Only a few have been released on parole awaiting full exoneration.
We care for the innocent during and after release at Miracle of Innocence. Learn and read more about their compelling stories.
Byron Case
Dana Chandler
Richard Brown
Byron Case was wrongfully convicted of shooting his best friend’s girlfriend. After supporting Byron’s alibi for three years, his ex-girlfriend told prosecutors that she saw Byron shoot the girl. Since the ex-girlfriend’s false statement, the following information has been determined: The prosecution fabricated a "confession" by manipulating a tape-recorded conversation between Byron and his ex-girlfriend. The only other evidence is the claim by Byron's ex-girlfriend that she saw the shooting after three years of statements supporting Byron's innocence. The Jackson County Medical Examiner who conducted the autopsy reviewed the ex-girlfriend's account of the shooting and signed an affidavit that based on his autopsy finding, everything she said about the shooting is "impossible" “not consistent with the physical evidence," and "Hollywood-style fiction." The Kansas City Regional Crime Lab blood pattern analyst concluded that the deceased was lying on her back on the ground when the fatal shot was fired, contrary to the ex-girlfriend's claim that she was standing when she was shot. The Jackson County Medical Examiner states unequivocally that the gun was touching the decedent's nose when it was fired, not from five feet away as the ex-girlfriend claims.
Dana is awaiting retrial on two charges of first-degree murder that occurred on July 7, 2002, resulting in the death of her ex-husband and his girlfriend. In 2012, jurors convicted Chandler of two counts of first-degree murder and sentenced her to two 50-year prison terms. The Kansas Supreme Court overturned the conviction, concluding prosecutors falsely claimed during the trial that Chandler’s former husband had taken out a protection from abuse order against her. The Supreme Court justices ruled that no protection order existed. The lead prosecutor on Dana’s case was disbarred in May 2022, due to her extensive professional misconduct of the case. Dana served 11 years in prison before being released on bond after her first retrial in August 2022 resulted in a hung jury. Dana is awaiting her second retrial on the matter which will begin February 3, 2025.
Richard's best friend Bryan Sheppard, Bryan’s uncles Skip and Frank Sheppard, and Frank’s former girlfriend Darlene Edwards, were arrested eight years after a construction site explosion tragically killed six (6) Kansas City firefighters. The evidence used to indict, try and convict Richard in federal court on a single count of arson causing death did not include eyewitnesses, physical evidence, and/or a confession. Favorable plea offers were rejected. Polygraphs were passed. In order to obtain a conviction, the Federal prosecutors advertised for witnesses who were enticed to testify with promises of reduced sentences or threats of prosecution.
Our Client Stories
Larry DeClue
Four days after being reported missing, a female member of the community was found tragically killed. Charges were initially filed against 4 individuals, which did not include DeClue. After those charges were dropped, the prosecutor moved the case to another county. It wasn’t until over two years later, when a nephew of DeClue’s made a statement implicating DeClue, that he was even associated with the crime. No physical evidence was ever developed supporting the allegations. Six months later, the nephew recanted the allegations saying he made them out of revenge. At DeClue’s trial, the nephew testified to his statement under the threat of perjury charges. DeClue was convicted using this statement and the statements of four men with compromised situations of criminal exposure. No physical evidence supported the state’s theory of the crime.
Darlene Edwards
Darlene Edwards, her former boyfriend, Frank Sheppard, his brother, Skip Sheppard, Frank & Skip’s teenage nephew Bryan Sheppard, and Bryan’s best friend Richard Brown were arrested eight years after a construction site explosion tragically killed six (6) Kansas City firefighters. The evidence used to indict, try and convict Darlene in federal court on a single count of arson causing death did not include eyewitnesses, physical evidence, and/or a confession. Favorable plea offers were rejected. Polygraphs were passed. In order to obtain a conviction, the Federal prosecutors advertised for witnesses who were enticed to testify with promises of reduced sentences or threats of prosecution.
Ralph McElroy
Ralph McElroy, was convicted of first-degree murder and spent 33 years in prison. A court ruling forced him to be resentenced because he was a minor when the crime occurred. Since September 2020, Ralph has been free on parole, awaiting exoneration thanks to Miracle of Innocence.
Frank Sheppard
Frank Sheppard, his brother, Skip Sheppard, his former girlfriend Darlene Edwards, his nephew Bryan Sheppard, and Bryan’s best friend Richard Brown were arrested eight years after a construction site explosion tragically killed six (6) Kansas City firefighters. The evidence used to indict, try and convict Frank in federal court on a single count of arson causing death did not include eyewitnesses, physical evidence, and/or a confession. Favorable plea offers were rejected. Polygraphs were passed. To obtain a conviction, the Federal prosecutors advertised for witnesses who were enticed to testify with promises of reduced sentences or threats of prosecution.
Jeffrey Weinhaus
Jeff Weinhaus, after a Missouri State Highway Patrol Trooper had seized Jeff’s computers in a search of his home, he contacted Jeff and used the return of his computers as a ruse to lure Jeff to a parking lot at an MFA gas station. Jeff exited his car and after a brief exchange, the trooper opened fire, striking Jeff in the head and chest multiple times. Witnesses who saw the shooting described it as an execution. Mr. Weinhaus was convicted of first-degree assault on the trooper’s claim that Jeff reached for a gun. A video taken by Jeff’s Smart Watch raises questions about the trooper’s version of events. After Jeff’s appeals were complete, the trooper sued the State Highway Patrol for wrongful discharge, and publicly disclosed for the first time that he was fired as unfit for duty, and for failing to disclose that when he shot Jeff he was on medication for PTSD resulting from his military service and from a previous fatal shooting of a citizen, and that this condition distorted his perception of threats. He told a psychologist he was afraid he would shoot someone who was just reaching for a wallet. In his pretrial deposition, the trooper lied when asked if he was on medication for any condition when he shot Jeff.
