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Crime & Courts November 7, 2024 - 4:16 pm

Kansas governor pardons five, commutes sentences for two in crimes involving drugs, sex, murder

by Sherman Smith, Kansas Reflector

Gov. Laura Kelly granted clemency to six men and a woman convicted of crimes that involve drugs, sex, and the second-degree murder of a newborn baby. The high-profile clemency request for Sarah Gonzales-McLinn is still under review.

Molly Adams / Lawrence Times
Crime & Courts May 20, 2024 - 9:52 pm

Former cellmate says Sarah Gonzales-McLinn, if granted clemency, would ‘show the world that people can heal from trauma’

by Mackenzie Clark

Roxie Merriman wishes people would focus as much on what was done to Sarah Gonzales-McLinn as they do on how Gonzales-McLinn murdered her rapist. 

Mackenzie Clark/Lawrence Times
Crime & Courts May 17, 2024 - 12:05 pm

Group seeking clemency for Sarah Gonzales-McLinn to hold public info session in Lawrence

by Mackenzie Clark

Advocates who are pushing for the governor to commute the sentence of a woman who killed her rapist in Lawrence 10 years ago will soon hold information sessions for the public.

Crime & Courts June 7, 2023 - 12:25 pm

Advocate hopes Kansas governor grants clemency in murder of rapist, but holds back optimism

by Sherman Smith, Kansas Reflector

Dave Ranney says few people disagree with his assertion that Gov. Laura Kelly should grant clemency to Sarah Gonzales-McLinn, who slit her rapist’s throat in 2014. But when he hears opposition, he asks, “Why don’t you tell me what you think was going on in that house?”

Mackenzie Clark/Lawrence Times
Crime & Courts May 23, 2023 - 12:19 pm

Kansas board conceals clemency recommendation for woman who killed alleged abuser in 2014

by Tim Carpenter, Kansas Reflector

The state Department of Corrections’ prisoner review board forwarded a recommendation to Gov. Laura Kelly on the executive clemency application of a Kansas woman convicted in the slaying of a man who allegedly sexually assaulted her for months, state officials said.

Mackenzie Clark/Lawrence Times
Crime & Courts February 10, 2023 - 2:37 pm

Kansas woman who killed her rapist faces long odds for clemency

by Sherman Smith, Kansas Reflector

Sarah Gonzales-McLinn faces long odds in her bid for clemency based on the rarity in which the Prisoner Review Board recommends approval, the willingness of governors to wield their power, the severity of her crime and opposition from those close to Hal Sasko.

Mackenzie Clark/Lawrence Times
Community Voices January 31, 2023 - 2:22 pm

Clay Wirestone: A Kansas woman killed her abuser. At every level, in every instance, the system failed her. (Column)

by Clay Wirestone, Kansas Reflector

”Even after the abuse, after the violent slaying, the system failed (Sarah Gonzales-McLinn). The judge in her murder trial didn’t allow jurors to hear testimony about her abuse,” Clay Wirestone writes in this Kansas Reflector column.

Crime & Courts January 31, 2023 - 10:16 am

Lawrence police work with domestic violence center to prevent and identify human trafficking

by Chloe Anderson, Kansas Reflector

In the years following a high-profile murder case, the Lawrence Police Department and The Willow Domestic Violence Center joined forces to help victims of human trafficking. The two organizations worked to fine-tune a longstanding relationship with the addition of a victims’ advocate in 2020.

Crime & Courts January 30, 2023 - 4:00 am

She killed her rapist after months of abuse. Advocates say Kansas governor should set her free.

by Sherman Smith, Kansas Reflector

A jury convicted Sarah Gonzales-McLinn of first-degree murder in 2015 without knowing about the months of abuse that preceded her grisly crime. Now, her advocates hope to get her out of prison by convincing the governor to grant her clemency — a longshot attempt to correct what they view as injustice.

Mackenzie Clark / The Lawrence Times
Community Voices July 15, 2021 - 3:31 am

Michelle Gonzales: Why the mother of a woman who killed her rapist isn’t happy with an ‘extraordinary’ settlement (Column)

by Michelle Gonzales, Kansas Reflector

“I am the mother of Sarah Gonzales-McLinn, the 19-year-old woman who killed Hal Sasko in 2014. … To imply that my daughter’s sentence was cut in half is misleading,” Michelle Gonzales writes in this column.

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Current Top Posts

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