Cops have a tough job that requires courage and paitence I frankly do not possess. Imagine remaining calm while a intoxicated jackass screams at you for an hour. Not stomping a suspect who endangered lives while leading you on a high speed chase. Its tough. I get that.
What i dont get nor will i ever understand is the evil that occured in Chicago at Area 2. The systematic failures that allowed it to continue and the limp response once it was found are an amazing story of ineptitude.
A short readers digest version paraphrased for the many followers of this blog. Jon Burge was a detective that was able for some reason to get confessions out of suspects with ease. Cases that seemed impossible to crack, Jon was able to get the straight dope. There was one problem, the people that confessed did not committ the crimes in questions.
Aaron Patterson was tortured by Burge and his goons for the killing of a shopkeeper and his wife. He scrawled in the desk that he was not guilty. Burge hung him over a door while shackled, beat him with a phone book and various other torture devices he learned in Vietnam. When he was released Aaron did not go quitely into the night, remembering he had people left on the inside. The government got him on a bullshit gun charge and sent him back to prison.
Leonard Kidd was hooked up to a car battery and shocked into confessing.
Frank Bounds, who died of cancer while incarcerated, was beaten into a mess by Burge and his thug squad.
He never was able to prove he did not kill Carolyn Lewis.
Madison (Mad)Hobley was handcuffed to the wall and beaten by detectives for a house fire that took his wife, son and others.
Stanley Howard (S Man) was brutally beaten by Burges henhmen. They then simulated suffocation by placing a plastic bag over his head. Sort of water boarding without the water. His confession was to a shooting that occured following a robbery.
Grayland Johnson also suffocated and beaten. And it goes on and on, for unknown scores of victims of this monster.
But the system did nothing to correct this problem. Much like the states full of racist sherriffs that ran roughshod in the south in the 60s murdering and maiming, Illinois sat on its hands. Unwilling to do anything to stop it. Even in one judges opinion unable to point to the fact that the torture had led directly to the confession. Ok Judge ill hook your junk up to a car battery and see how quickly you crack.
Burge was fired in 1993. Special prosecutors were not appointed until 2002. Burge was only recently convicted of perjury. He received a sentence of 4 years. Most of his victims had received death sentences. As a defense lawyer i dont want to see anyone go to prison. Burge deserves far worse than a safe, cushy prison full of ex cops and snitches. He made cops everywhere look bad and embarrassed the hell out of the CPD. That is sort of like making a whore blush. not easy to do.
The US attorney does not deserve a pat on the back for prosecuting this man thirty years removed from his crimes. In the same manner the AG offices that prosecuted Klan members when they were about to die deserve no credit for that pointless act. When you stand idly by watching a man pervert justice you shared his guilt as he beat, suffocated and shocked lies out of poor men who couldnt defend themselves.
Do something good like abolish the death penalty Illinois, then i wont be ashamed of this part of my home states history.
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