September 23, 1956 - Brian Dugan
Dugan's case is a stark illustration of how wrongful convictions can run parallel to the actual perpetrator's freedom — two men were sentenced to death for a crime he committed, and it took more than a decade of appeals, recanted testimony, and DNA evidence to unravel. His informal confession in 1985 was not enough to prevent those convictions from standing, and the Nicarico murder remained entangled in prosecutorial and legal controversy long after the facts pointed clearly elsewhere.
From Wikipedia
Brian James Dugan (born September 23, 1956) is an American convicted rapist and serial killer active between 1983 and 1985 in Chicago's western suburbs. He was known for having informally confessed in 1985 to the February 1983 abduction, rape and murder of 10-year-old Jeanine Nicarico of Naperville, Illinois, which was a highly publicized case. He was already in custody for two other rapes and murders, one of a woman in July 1984 and the other a 7-year-old girl in May 1985. He was sentenced to life after pleading guilty to the latter two crimes.
Rolando Cruz and Alejandro Hernandez, both from Aurora, Illinois, had earlier been indicted in the Nicarico case and were convicted of Nicarico's murder in 1983 and sentenced to death. After appeals and new trials, Hernandez was convicted a third time and sentenced to life in prison. Cruz was acquitted in 1995 after a witness recanted testimony, and new DNA evidence was introduced excluding him from that found at the crime scene. State charges against Hernandez were also dismissed that year and he was freed.
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