Crime & Law
After Man Spent Nearly 25 Years in Prison for Wrongful Murder Conviction, City Lawyers Recommend $8.75M Settlement
Jon Burge. (WTTW News)
Chicago taxpayers should pay $8.75 million to a man who spent nearly 25 years behind bars after being convicted of murdering a 6-year-old boy based on a confession he said was coerced by Chicago police detectives trained by Jon Burge, a disgraced Chicago police commander, city lawyers recommended.
The Chicago City Council’s Finance Committee is set on Monday to consider the proposed settlement, which would add to the toll of Burge’s legacy of torture and misconduct more than 30 years after he was fired. A final vote of the City Council could come Wednesday.
Mark Maxson was convicted of the 1992 murder and rape of 6-year-old Lindsey Murdock, who was killed in a West Roseland garage, after Maxson confessed to detectives trained by Burge. No physical evidence tied Maxson to the crime.
Detectives trained by Burge have faced dozens of lawsuits and complaints alleging they physically abused those they suspected of committing crimes to coerce confessions.
Maxson said he only confessed after being interrogated for three days and having his request for a lawyer ignored. Maxson said detectives slapped him in the face, kicked him in the ribs and fed him information about the crime that he used in his confession.
After detectives denied coercing Maxson’s confession and the judge in his case allowed it to be used against him, Maxson was sentenced in 1994 to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
In 2016, tests performed on the boy’s underwear, pants, shirt and a quilt found at the scene identified a DNA profile that did not belong to Maxson.
The Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office linked the DNA to Wade Osborne, who had pleaded guilty to stabbing his uncle to death in November 1994.
Osborne confessed to raping and killing the 6-year-old boy, and was charged with murder, leading to Maxson’s release from prison. Maxson was granted a certificate of innocence in October 2016.
Contact Heather Cherone: @HeatherCherone | (773) 569-1863 | [email protected]
