More than two decades after the brutal kidnapping, rape and murder of 10-year-old Naperville girl Jeanine Nicarico, a DuPage County jury sentenced Brian Dugan to death, as reported by the Chicago Sun-Times. As can be expected after 26 years, Nicarico's mother was quoted in the Sun-Times article as finally finding some relief:
"This decision is definitely a relief for us. We are shedding tears, not of sadness, but of joy."
Regardless of your thoughts about the death penalty, which remains in moratorium in the State of Illinois (Chicago Tribune) after Gov. George Ryan halted the procedure in 2000, Dugan is one bad dude. Described as "a vicious monster" by state's attorney Joseph Birkett, Dugan was convicted of two other rapes and murders and suspected of other similar crimes.
Although he has been sentenced to die for his heinous crimes, the moratorium still is in effect, prompted by revelations of botched investigations and multiple death row inmates who were later cleared by DNA evidence. In a sad irony (and one of the reasons it took so long to convict Dugan), two innocent men were convicted for the crimes against Nicarico and served time -- just the kind of prosecutorial mistake that convinced Gov. Ryan to initiate the moratorium.
Republican gubernatorial candidate Jim Ryan (no relation to George Ryan) apologized for his role in that particular wrongful conviction when he served as the DuPage County state's attorney. Current Illinois governor Pat Quinn, a Democrat, recently stated his intention to not lift the moratorium.
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Timeline of the death penalty in Illinois (Chicago Tribune)
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Challenges to the death penalty (FindLaw)
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Find a Chicago criminal defense lawyer (FindLaw)
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