Overview
- Ashley Kline, 23, who had childhood brain damage and was described by family as trusting and vulnerable, was lured into a car by Ryan Schannauer and attacked with Adam Lynch near Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area in late 2013.
- A post-mortem found soot in her lungs indicating she was alive when first set on fire, and prosecutors said Schannauer admitted dousing her with gasoline.
- Key leads included a jogger’s discovery of a pink Ugg boot and handbag with Kline’s ID, CCTV of a man filling a fuel can, and physical evidence in Lynch’s car such as her broken necklace and a boot print.
- Lynch’s girlfriend told police the pair returned on January 8 to try to burn the body again, bolstering the prosecution’s account that jealousy and premeditation drove the crime.
- Both men pleaded guilty under a deal that removed death-penalty exposure and are serving life sentences with no prospect of parole, which officials have called among the county’s most horrific cases.