It just keeps on happening in Illinois. I grow more weary and cynical with each instance.



Two Charged in 1986 Chicago Murder

By BENNIE M. CURRIE
.c The Associated Press

 
CHICAGO (AP) - Two suspects have been charged with murder in the 1986 death of a medical student, a crime for which four men had spent years in prison before being cleared two months ago.

Duane Roach, 46, and Eddie Harris, 38, were arrested Monday in Chicago and charged Thursday in the death of Lori Roscetti, authorities said. Prosecutors expect to file additional charges, and a court hearing was scheduled for Friday.

``I knew this was coming,'' said Omar Saunders, who spent 14 years and 11 months in prison before being exonerated. ``I just didn't know it was coming this soon.''

The arrests were made after police received a phone call in mid-January from a witness who implicated the two suspects, Cook County State's Attorney Dick Devine said.

Police began reinvestigating the case after DNA evidence cleared the four men and charges were dropped in December, Devine said.

``We owe no less to the community and to the family of Lori Roscetti,'' Devine said. ``We are satisfied that these two individuals are responsible.''

Roscetti's parents, who live in Springfield in central Illinois, declined to comment.

Authorities said the witness who tipped them off is not a suspect. They would not release any other details about the man or explain why he took so long to come forward.

Roach and Harris were charged after police received DNA test results Thursday from semen and hair samples that linked the men to the crime scene, chief of detectives Lt. Phil Cline said. He said both men made confessions on videotape.

Police said the two men were looking for a car to burglarize at around 2 a.m. on Oct. 18, 1986, when they abducted Roscetti on the city's West Side as she drove home from a night of studying. The 23-year-old was taken to a remote railroad trestle where she was sexually assaulted, kicked and bludgeoned to death with a chunk of concrete, police said.

Saunders and the other three men cleared in the case - Marcellius Bradford, Larry Ollins and his cousin Calvin Ollins - are suing the police, prosecutors and crime lab workers involved in their prosecution. They allege in their lawsuit that Chicago police conspired against them out of frustration that the high-profile case hadn't been solved.

Bradford received a reduced sentence for cooperating with prosecutors and served six years, but he said his confession was coerced. Calvin Ollins also said he was coerced into confessing and told he could go home if he did.

Defense attorney Kathleen Zellner said, ``My clients are going to be vindicated and the people that we sued are going to be held accountable for fabricating a fantastic and implausible story against my clients.''

Saunders said he thinks the authorities who played a role in the case against him ``should be punished'' for his wrongful conviction.

``What we were saying wasn't just fiction,'' he said. ``Maybe this injustice can shed light on the system.''

AP-NY-02-08-02 0628EST

To at least paraphrase our 'black' friends - "There is no justice; just us."

Does anyone have a plausible explanation of why LEO's are allowed to lie to suspects?  Who's supposed to be the good guys?  Do you really trust someone who intentionally misleads the public without consequence with a gun and the power to arrest?z