2-State Effort Aimed at Freeing Mentally Challenged Woman

Photo dated September 2015 of Angel Stewart, who is the subject of a pending clemency petition to Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds. Stewart was convicted of kidnapping in both Missouri and Iowa following the 1994 abduction and killing of two elderly Iowa women. Her advocates say Stewart has an IQ of 65 and was abused by the men responsible for the crime. They say she went along only out of fear and played no direct role in the kidnappings or killings. Iowa Department of Corrections/AP

ST. LOUIS—Supporters of a mentally challenged woman convicted in two states in the 1994 kidnapping and killing of two elderly women say she was actually a victim of the men involved in the crime and are pushing for her release.

They’ve persuaded one state—Missouri—to grant Angel Stewart parole. But things are more complicated in Iowa, where Stewart is serving a life-in-prison sentence that does not include the option for parole.