The county’s Board of Commissioners on Thursday voted in favor of the deal, which comes years after Jackie Wilson was released and granted a certificate of innocence in the 1982 killings of Chicago police Officers William Fahey and Richard O’Brien.
Jon Burge
The Cook County Board of Commissioners will vote on the proposed settlement with Jackie Wilson, who was convicted of the 1982 killings of Chicago police Officers William Fahey and Richard O’Brien, based largely on a false confession he said he gave after he was repeatedly beaten and electroshocked.
Special prosecutor Lawrence Oliver on Wednesday announced a 14-count indictment against former Assistant State’s Attorneys Nicholas Trutenko and Andrew Horvat following the botched prosecution of Wilson, who was facing his third trial for the 1982 murders of police Officers William Fahey and Richard O’Brien.
“We have paid as a city, as taxpayers, an unbelievable heavy toll for [Burge’s] crimes,” Mayor Lori Lightfoot said.
The City Council’s Finance Committee voted unanimously Monday to recommend the settlement, which is set for a final vote by the full City Council on Wednesday.
Special Prosecutor Chosen to Investigate Cook County State’s Attorney Handling of Jackie Wilson Case
A Cook County judge has appointed Lawrence Oliver to serve as special prosecutor in the case of Jackie Wilson, who wrongfully spent decades behind bars for a double murder he didn’t commit.
“To say I’m hurt is an understatement,” said Jackie Wilson, who spent more than three decades in prison following multiple wrongful convictions for the 1982 murder of two Chicago police officers.
The Chicago Police Department has been operating under a consent decree since 2019. The order, which was prompted by the 2014 police murder of Laquan McDonald, is the first consent decree the department has faced. But it’s not the first attempt at police reform in Chicago.
Robert Smith claims Burge detectives beat false confession out of him
Robert Smith spent decades in prison on a wrongful murder conviction. Now, he’s suing the city and several Chicago Police Department detectives who worked under notorious Area 2 Commander Jon Burge, claiming they beat a false confession out of him.
A new archive detailing the experiences of police torture survivors went online this month. We hear from two people who are helping those survivors heal.
The Invisible Institute, a journalism nonprofit based on the city’s South Side, has published an online archive documenting former Chicago police Cmdr. Jon Burge’s "violence against more than 100 Black men, from the 1970s to the 1990s.”
Arnold Day claims he was tortured into falsely confessing to two murders in 1991. After 26 years in prison, he’s now suing the city of Chicago.
A memorial dedicated to those who were allegedly tortured by former Chicago Police Cmdr. Jon Burge is one step closer to reality, now that a final design has been selected.
From the murder of Fred Hampton to the Jon Burge torture ring, a new book by attorney Flint Taylor recounts the fight for justice in the face of racism and police misconduct in Chicago.
Anthony Jakes was just 15 years old when he says he was held by police for 16 hours and beaten into falsely confessing to participating in a 1991 murder. He served 20 years before he was released from prison.
His name will forever be associated with police brutality in Chicago, yet he never faced criminal charges for the torture he allegedly ordered and took part in. Jon Burge died Wednesday at his home in Florida.
