On March 27, 2025, the Akron Beacon Journal reported on Christine Richards, a Portage County resident who served on Tyrone Noling’s jury and ultimately voted in favor of his conviction and death sentence. Richards came forward, decades after serving as a juror for Tyrone’s case, after seeing signs posted throughout the county by supporters asking for anyone with information about Tyrone’s case to share what they know.
As Akron Beacon Journal reporter Stephanie Warsmith discusses in the article, Richards feels as though she is “now concerned that she and her fellow jurors got it wrong and thinks Noling should get a new trial.” Richards shared that her change in opinion came as she witnessed the evidence against Tyrone essentially vanish over time. Specifically, Richards became concerned as she witnessed all three of Tyrone’s co-defendants recant their statements against him, and learned of evidence regarding potential other suspects that was raised by Tyrone’s attorneys. Now, Richard shares that she simply believes Tyrone was “essentially in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
Over the years, Richards continued to learn more about Tyrone’s case from this website, tyronenoling.com, Tyrone’s supporters, and through true crime shows detailing his case. As the article describes, Richards found that what she saw and read regarding Tyrone’s case following her time as a juror was “disturbing.” She learned of Dan Wilson, who was staying at a foster home near the victims’ house and admitted to his foster brother that he committed the murders. But his confession was never presented during Tyrone’s trial, and Wilson was later convicted and executed for another woman’s abduction and murder. This information, and more, led Richards to an inescapable sense of doubt over Tyrone’s guilt. Richards now believes Tyrone was only convicted because of his involvement in robberies that occurred in other areas of Ohio. Still living in Portage County, Richards ultimately shared that “[i]f I have say if I think he is innocent or guilty, I would have to say: innocent.”
In conjunction with the article discussing Christine Richards, the Akron Beacon Journal released another article discussing Tyrone’s case, “Tyrone Noling: 5 things to know about the death row inmate’s quest to prove his innocence.” This second article discusses the many weak points in the State’s case against Tyrone, including the recanted statements of Tyrone’s co-defendants, the lack of physical evidence tying Tyrone to the crime, the existence of alternative suspects, Tyrone’s fight to get access to DNA testing to further push other suspects forward, and Portage County’s refusal to acknowledge the holes in Tyrone’s conviction. The Journal also posted a short video discussing Tyrone’s case.
Additionally, following the publication of the story on Christine Richards, the Akron Beacon also released an editorial opinion discussing Tyrone’s case, published through USA Today, entitled “Juror adds one more reason Tyrone Noling deserves a new shot at justice.” In the opinion, the Akron Beacon Journal editorial board states that Tyrone was targeted as a suspect due to his involvement in prior robberies in Alliance, Ohio. The opinion acknowledges that since Tyrone’s case “has unraveled since nearly the moment it was closed.” The opinion also raises the fact that the same prosecutor’s office that wrongfully convicted Tyrone was previously found to have wrongfully convicted two other Ohio men, Bob Gondor and Randy Resh, during a 1990 trial that included false testimony and missing key evidence. Gondor and Resh were freed 16 years later after they were officially found to be wrongfully convicted.
The media attention on Tyrone’s case confirms what Tyrone and his legal team have maintained for years: an innocent man currently sits on Ohio’s death row, and his case deserves to be re-examined.