The Background

In 1999 Kevin Tolliver had an extensive resume.

He was President of High School student Council.  He held an unpaid Board position with United Way in Communications. He was on the National Deans List Honor Society, Phi Kappa Theta, and part of the Campus Republican human dignity task force and minority rights council.

He was the owner of KatCo Construction. The Company Placed the Rock Hall of Fame signage at the Cleveland, Ohio landmark building.

None of his background included violence against women. 

His former wife Natasha and his long-term girlfriend before that by the name Barb King both spoke on his behalf and made that clear to the Ohio Parole Board recently.

So why is Kevin Tolliver in prison for murdering his then-girlfriend Claire Schneider in 2001?

Because in 2002, the Public Defender in the case, James Foley, never put evidence before the Court that Paxil is distinctly tied to increased rates of suicide. This is definitely true in young adults. Claire Schneider was in that age bracket at the time of her death.

Claire was experiencing emotional turmoil and did not realize that there was a bullet left in the chamber when she demonstrably argued with Kevin Tolliver and held the gun to her head and said: 

What do you want me to do kill myself?

Neighbors in the apartment complex noted that they contemporaneously recall hearing a male voice yelling

“No, don’t!”   

The Jury deliberated nearly an entire week before returning a verdict.  

The Coroner testified that it was inconclusive as to homicide or suicide.

Kevin demanded that a Gunshot Residue test be done on Claire’s hands. For reasons that remain unclear to this date, the State refused this reasonable request even though the results could have definitively assisted the Jury in its deliberations. 

The family needs money to retain noted Private Investigator Martin Yant to follow up on issues of irregularities in the trial that were being noted in a prior abandoned investigation when Kevin’s mother died in 2005.

Kevin has steadfastly maintained his innocence. He has also rejected an opportunity from the Parole Board to elocute to shooting Claire in a blackout rage so that he could get out of prison earlier:

The entire Parole Hearing was biased against Kevin, basically retrying the case telling him “you need to give us something then we can recommend what classes to take in order for you to be successful” thereby proving that they had made up their mind already.

Says Kevin,  

“This is not about false pride. I would love to be out of prison soon. The conditions here are deplorable. But I cannot tell a lie to get out of here.  That would also not do Justice for Claire because then her real killer (Paxil) goes without due punishment.”

Meanwhile, Glaxo Smith Kline Agreed to a Record Settlement in Fraud Case in 2012.

In the largest pharmaceutical settlement in the nation’s history, Glaxo in 2012 agreed to plead guilty and pay $3 billion to resolve criminal and civil liability for promoting Paxil and other prescription drugs for unapproved uses. They also failed to report safety data about the medications.

Liability was established under the False Claims Act, also called the “Lincoln Law,” when four Glaxo employees tipped off the government about a range of improper practices between the late 1990s and mid-2000s.

Meanwhile, in April 20, 2017, an Illinois federal jury found GSK liable for Stewart Dolin’s death and ordered the pharmaceutical company to pay $3 million to Wendy Dolin. In the trial, Dolin’s lawyers claimed the company knew about the increased suicide risks in adult Paxil patients before the drug went on the market and it hid the dangerous effect from the FDA and prescribing physicians.

Meanwhile, Paxil has been found as a causal to a murder rampage in which the victims’ families were awarded 6.4Million Dollars.

Kevin Tolliver did not kill Claire Schneider. Paxil killed Claire Schneider.

Without your help he will never get the chance to prove this and an innocent man will continue to be wrongly held in prison.