Two freed: 'It took 20 years'; Convicted in 1988 murders of 5 people, one says Burge's men forced confession Chicago Sun Times July 8, 2009 Wednesday
Chicago Sun Times
July 8, 2009 Wednesday
BYLINE: Rummana Hussain, The Chicago Sun-Times
They stood before a Cook County judge Tuesday morning in bright yellow jumpsuits, convicted quintuple murderers in a heinous arson- related slaying more than two decades ago.
Hours later, Ronald Kitchen, 43, and Marvin Reeves, 50, strolled out of the 26th and California courthouse free men in business suits befitting Wall Street's best.
"It hasn't really hit me yet. It's surreal," Kitchen said after the Illinois attorney general's office dismissed charges in the allegedly drug-related 1988 murders of two women and their three children on the Southwest Side.
Kitchen, who said he was forced to confess by an underling of disgraced former Chicago Police Detective Cmdr. Jon Burge, was originally sentenced to death, and Reeves had been been serving five life terms without parole.
"If you're getting whooped for over 39 hours and you're constantly saying that you didn't do it and they're constantly doing what they're doing, somewhere along the line you're going to realize they're not going to stop unless somebody gives in," Kitchen said.
"I gave in hoping that the judge and the jury would see that, 'Hey, he's telling the truth.' But it didn't happen that way. It took 20 years."
Kitchen plans to attend Burge's upcoming federal trial on federal perjury and obstruction of justice charges to "give him what he gave me."
"As long as Jon Burge is free, the fight has to continue," Kitchen said, flanked by granddaughter Diamond and Randell Beamon, his 20-year-old son, who was born during his incarceration.
Along with the false confession, the case against the men faltered because of a lack of physical evidence and the incredulity of the prosecution's key witness, according to Kitchen's and Reeve's attorneys, Michael Gill and Thomas Geraghty, and lawyers with Northwestern University's Center on Wrongful Convictions.
Illinois Assistant Attorney General Richard Schwind told Criminal Court Presiding Judge Paul Biebel on Tuesday that after an exhaustive review of both cases, the office determined it could not "sustain its burden of proof."
Officials with the attorney general's office would not comment on whether any other suspects have been identified.
Rosemary Rodriguez, 28; her son Daniel, 4; Deborah Sepulveda, 26, and her two children, Peter, 3, and Rebecca, 2, were strangled, and their home, a bungalow at 6028 S. Campbell, was set on fire.
Late Tuesday afternoon, as Biebel approved their release, Kitchen and Reeves smiled as they hugged weeping relatives.
Reeves refused comment. His mom, Pollyanna, had said earlier, "This is wonderful day."
Kitchen beamed, thinking about a hot bath and a home-cooked meal. He even fielded his first cell phone call from his older son, Ronald Jr., while chatting with reporters. He admitted that life on the outside may take some getting used to.
"That's going to be scary too, because for 21 years, somebody was telling me when to take a bath, when to eat, when to go outside," he said.
