Where Is Kaitlyn Conley Now? Inside Her Life in Prison as She Maintains Her Innocence
Kaitlyn Conley was found guilty of poisoning her ex-boyfriend's mother in 2017
Kaitlyn Conley is speaking her truth for the first time.
In 2015, the New York-born office manager was convicted of killing her boss and the mother of her ex-boyfriend, Mary Yoder. She allegedly poisoned Mary as a way to get revenge against Mary's son, Adam.
After her first trial resulted in a hung jury, Conley was found guilty of first-degree manslaughter in November 2017 and sentenced to 23 years in prison. To this day, she maintains her innocence.
"I did not kill Mary Yoder," she proclaimed in the three-part Hulu docuseries, Little Miss Innocent: Passion. Poison. Prison, which premiered in September 2024. "I know it wasn't me so if it wasn't me, who was it?"
Here’s everything to know about Mary Yoder's murder case, including Kaitlyn Conley's tumultuous relationship with Adam Yoder and where she is now.
Who is Kaitlyn Conley?
Kaitlyn Conley, born and raised in Sauquoit, N.Y., was 24 years old when she was found guilty of murdering Mary Yoder in 2017. She allegedly poisoned Mary with colchicine — a medicine used to treat gout.
Conley spent four years working as an office manager for Mary at Chiropractic Family Care, according to ABC News, and she also dated Mary's son Adam.
Conley's family maintains her innocence and, following her sentencing in 2018, launched a campaign to try and get her out of jail. On the website Free Kaitlyn Conley, they describe her as a "loving sister, aunt, daughter, cousin, niece and friend to many."
Who are Mary and Adam Yoder?
Mary Yoder was 60 years old when she died of colchicine poisoning on July 22, 2015. She was Conley's employer at Chiropractic Family Care, which she owned and operated with her husband, William. Mary, described as the picture of health by her friends and family, also ran a vitamin business — making it particularly strange when she became deathly ill.
Investigators believe she may have been poisoned via her daily protein drink, which Conley could have had access to at the office. After ingesting the poison, Mary's health rapidly declined.
An autopsy later revealed that Mary's organs looked like those of someone who had gone through chemotherapy and that she had been poisoned with agricultural-grade Colchicine — enough to kill her 15 times over. As a result of the findings, a murder investigation was opened.
Conley also had another connection to Mary: she dated her son, Adam. The two met at a high school graduation party in 2011 and went on to have an on-again, off-again relationship that some described as "toxic." During the trial, Conley even alleged that Adam raped and choked her while he was drunk in 2014, per the Observer-Dispatch.
"The first year, my relationship with Adam was pretty good," Conley said in Hulu's Little Miss Innocent: Passion. Poison. Prison. "Then there was a noticeable shift in him, and I didn't quite understand it ... I was scared of him. It changed the way I see the world."
Adam and Conley were not together at the time of Mary's death.
Why did Kaitlyn Conley kill Mary Yoder?
The assistant district attorney alleged that Conley killed Yoder for one of two reasons: to get back at Adam for their tumultuous relationship or to create a traumatic event in Adam's life that would ultimately bring them back together.
Throughout the trial, Conley asserted that she and Mary were friends and that she would never harm her.
"I miss Mary, and I really hate that this situation has kind of colored my relationship with her," she said in the docuseries. "I feel like I can't really miss her because I'm fighting for my own life."
How did Kaitlyn Conley become the prime suspect?
In the beginning of the investigation, police believed William to be the prime suspect as he began dating Mary's older sister, Kathleen, shortly after her death. They also suspected that he was looking to get a life insurance payout, but when that didn't happen, investigators shifted to a new suspect: Adam.
In November 2015, the medical examiner's office received an anonymous letter that pointed to Adam. The letter alleged that he had confessed to murdering his mom and noted that police could find the colchicine in his car. It all seemed too easy and investigators began to consider who might have reason to frame Adam.
A month later, while being interviewed by police, Conley confessed to writing the letter. She was now the prime suspect. After some digging, investigators found that two purchases of colchicine had been made on Conley's work computer and they found her DNA on one of the bottle's wrappers. She was ultimately charged with murder.
The first trial resulted in a hung jury. During the second, Adam revealed that he had access to the contents of Conley's phone after she backed up her device on his computer in August 2015. According to Spectrum News 1, the backup included screenshots of articles Conley had been reading titled "Why is Thallium the Poison of Choice for Poisoners and Terrorists” and “Some of the World’s Most Toxic Substances.”
On Nov. 6, 2017, she was found guilty of first-degree manslaughter, rather than the initial charge of second-degree murder.
Where is Kaitlyn Conley now?
In January 2018, Conley was sentenced to 23 years in prison. She is currently incarcerated at the Bedford Hills Correctional Facility in New York and will be eligible for parole in 2037.
"I hope she never makes it out of prison," Adam's sister Tamaryn said in Little Miss Innocent. "I’d be okay if she made it to 22 years and then got killed in there. I’d be happy."
Conley's attorneys have unsuccessfully tried to appeal the court's decision several times, according to the Observer-Dispatch. That was until May 2024 when the State Appellate Division in Rochester granted permission to present an appeal. No court date has been set at this time.
Conley also spoke out for the first time since her conviction in Hulu's September 2024 series Little Miss Innocent: Passion. Poison. Prison.
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