Fourteen Illinois death sentences predicated on confessions allegedly extracted by torture
Summaries of torture allegations and procedural histories of the 14 defendants' cases:
Frank Bounds - Struck in the head and kicked in the groin by Area 3 Detectives William Foley, William Kelly, and Michael Kill; convicted of the rape and murder of Carolyn Lewis, whose body was found on December 13, 1986, in an apartment in the 7300 block of South Princeton Street; conviction and sentence affirmed, People v. Bounds, 171 Ill. 2d 1 (1995); remanded for evidentiary hearing following trial court's denial of post-conviction relief, People v. Bounds, 182 Ill. 2d 1 (1998); died of cancer in a prison hospital on October 10, 1998.
Madison Hobley - Handcuffed to a wall ring and beaten by Area 2 Detectives Robert Dwyer and James Lotito, taken to central police headquarters, handcuffed to a chair, kicked by Sergeant Patrick Garrity, and smothered with a typewriter cover by Detective Daniel McWeeny; convicted of the murder by arson of his wife, infant son, and five other persons on January 6, 1987, in the 1100 block of East 82nd Street; conviction and sentence affirmed, People v. Hobley, 159 Ill. 2d 272 (1994); remanded for evidentiary hearing regarding exclusion of exculpatory evidence following trial court's denial of post-conviction relief, People v. Hobley,182 Ill. 2d 404 (1998); pardoned based on innocence and released on January 10, 2003.
Stanley Howard - Beaten and smothered with plastic bag by Area 2 Sergeant John Byrne and Detectives Ronald Boffo, Robert Dwyer, and James Lotito; convicted of murdering Oliver Ridgell during armed robbery on May 20, 1984, near the intersection of 92nd and Loomis streets; conviction and sentence affirmed, People v. Howard, 147 Ill. 2d 103(1991); pardoned based on innocence on January 10, 2003; remained in prison for unrelated conviction.
Grayland Johnson - Beaten with telephone book and smothered with plastic bag by Area 3 detectives; convicted of murdering Douglas Coleman on Easter Sunday 1988, a crime that qualified for the death penalty because Johnson had a prior conviction for murder; conviction affirmed but death sentence vacated, People v. Johnson, 159 Ill. 2d 97(1994); resentenced to death on September 15, 1999; sentence commuted to life in prison without parole on January 11, 2003.
Leonard Kidd (half brother of Leroy Orange) - Electrically shocked by Area 2 detectives; convicted and sentenced to death in two cases: the murder of nine children who died in an arson fire in the 1500 block of East 65th Place on October 28, 1980, and the murder of four persons and the stabbing deaths of three adults and a child whose bodies were found in an apartment in the 1500 block of West 91st Street on January 11, 1983; after reversals, retrials, and re-imposition of the death sentences in both cases, convictions and sentences affirmed on direct appeal, People v. Kidd, 175 Ill. 2d 1 (1996), and People v. Kidd, 178 Ill. 2d 92 (1997); sentences commuted to life in prison without parole on January 11, 2003.
Derrick E. King - Beaten with baseball bat and telephone book by Area 2 officers; convicted of murdering store clerk Dwaine Miller during an armed robbery on the south side on December 19, 1979; conviction and death sentence affirmed on direct appeal, People v. King, 109 Ill. 2d 514 (1986); post-conviction relief denied, People v. King, 192 Ill. 2d 189 (2000); sentence commuted to life in prison without parole on January 11, 2003.
Ronald Kitchen - Beaten with telephone book, blackjack, and telephone receiver by Jon Burge and detectives under his command; convicted of murdering two women and three children (all under age 3) at 6028 S. Campbell Street in a dispute over a drug debt July 27, 1988; conviction and death sentence affirmed, People v. Kitchen, 159 Ill. 2d 1 (1994); remanded for evidentiary hearing based on ineffective assistance of counsel after trial court's denial of post-conviction relief, People v. Kitchen, 189 Ill. 2d 424 (1999); sentence commuted to life in prison without parole on January 11, 2003.
Jerry Mahaffey (brother of Reginald) - Threatened, kicked, beaten, and smothered with plastic bag by Area 2 officers; convicted and sentenced to death for murdering Jo Ellen and Dean Pueschel during a home invasion on August 29, 1983; the Pueschels' 11-year-old son, Richard, was beaten and stabbed but survived; conviction and death sentence affirmed on direct appeal, People v. Mahaffey, 128 Ill. 2d 388 (1989); post-conviction relief denied, People v. Mahaffey, 165 Ill. 2d 445 (1995); federal writ of habeas corpus initially denied, Mahaffey v. Page, 151 F.3d 671 (1998), but reconsidered and granted, Mahaffey v. Page, 151 F.3d 671 (1998); sentence commuted to life in prison without parole on January 11, 2003.
Reginald Mahaffey (brother of Jerry) - Gun pointed at head, punched, kicked, thrown against wall, and smothered with plastic bag by Area 2 officers; convicted and sentenced to death for the crime described above; conviction reversed and remanded for retrial on the ground that his case should have been severed from his brother's, People v. Mahaffey, 128 Ill. 2d 388 (1989); re-convicted and re-sentenced to death; conviction and death sentence affirmed on direct appeal, People v. Mahaffey, 166 Ill. 2d 1(1995); post-conviction relief denied, People v. Mahaffey, 194 Ill. 2d 154 (2000); federal writ of habeas corpus denied, Mahaffey v. Schomig, 294 F.3d 907 (2002), sentence commuted to life in prison without parole on January 11, 2003.
Andrew Maxwell - Handcuffed to wall ring and beaten by Area 2 officers; convicted and sentenced to death for the murder of Adrian Bracy during an attempted armed robbery in 8300 block of South Indiana Avenue on October 26, 1986; conviction and death sentence affirmed, People v. Maxwell, 148 Ill. 2d 116 (1992), and People v. Maxwell, 173 Ill. 2d 102 (1996), but U.S. District Court Judge Milton I. Shadur ordered the trial court to conduct a hearing on Maxwell's torture allegations, Maxwell v. Gilmore, 37 F. Supp. 2d 1078 (1999); re-sentenced to 75 years in prison on December 14, 2001 pursuant to an agreement with the Cook County State's Attorney.
Leroy Orange (half brother of Leonard Kidd) - Beaten, suffocated, and electrically shocked by Area 2 detectives; conviction and death sentence affirmed, People v. Orange, 121 Ill. 2d 364 (1988); evidentiary hearing ordered based petition for post-conviction relief alleging ineffective assistance of counsel, People v. Orange, 168 Ill. 2d 138 (1995) and People v. Orange, 195 Ill. 2d 437 (2001); pardoned based on innocence and released on January 10, 2003.
Aaron Patterson - Chained to a wall ring, beaten and repeatedly smothered with plastic bag by Area 2 officers, and threatened with gun by Jon Burge; convicted of the murder of an elderly couple whose bodies were found on April 19, 1986, in their south side home; conviction and death sentence affirmed, People v. Patterson, 154 Ill. 2d 414 (1992); remanded for evidentiary hearing based on petition for post-conviction relief alleging that trial attorney's failure to present evidence of police brutality constituted ineffective assistance of counsel, People v. Patterson, 192 Ill. 2d 93 (2000); pardoned based on innocence and released on January 10, 2003.
Andrew Wilson (brother of Jackie) - Punched, kicked, smothered with plastic bag, electrically shocked, and forced against hot radiator by Area 2 officers; convicted and sentenced to death for the murders of on-duty Chicago Police Officers William Fahey and Richard O'Brien on February 9, 1982, in the 8100 block of South Morgan Avenue; reversed and remanded on ground that the trial court erred in refusing to suppress his confession as involuntary, People v. Wilson, 116 Ill. 2d 29 (1987); re-convicted and sentenced to natural life; conviction and natural life sentence affirmed, People v. Wilson, 254 Ill. App. 3d 1020 (1993); federal writ of habeas corpus denied, Wilson v. Peters, 60 F. Supp. 2d 777 (1999).
Jackie Wilson (brother of Andrew) - Smothered, threatened with gun, beaten, and electrically shocked by Area 2 officers; convicted and sentenced to death in 1982 for both murders described above; reversed and remanded for a new trial because the trial judge did not properly instruct the jury regarding the defendant's right to testify, Wilson v. Williams, 139 Ill. App. 3d (1985); convicted of the murder of Officer Richard O'Brien (but not William Fahey) and sentenced to natural life; conviction and sentence affirmed, People v. Wilson, 257 Ill. App. 3d 670 (1993); federal writ of habeas corpus denied, Wilson v. Williams, 182 F.3d 562 (1999).
Compiled by Rob Warden, executive director of the Center on Wrongful Convictions. Permission is granted to reprint, quote, or post on other web sites with appropriate attribution.
