Former Chicago Police Cmdr. Jon Burge led the torture of criminal suspects for two decades, coercing dozens of confessions with fists, kicks, radiator burns, guns to the mouth, bags over the head and electric shock to the genitals, special prosecutors charged Wednesday.
Concluding a four-year probe, the prosecutors painted a portrait of a criminal justice system where top officials in a position to stop Burge–among them Mayor Richard Daley, when he served as Cook County state’s attorney–appeared blind to the abuse.
But, the prosecutors concluded, it’s too late to pursue charges against Burge or any of the other officers. Statutes of limitations have long since run out on the cases, which they said stretched from the 1970s through the 1980s.
The prosecutors singled out for criticism former Chicago Police Supt. Richard Brzeczek, who served under Mayor Jane Byrne.
Brzeczek was guilty of “dereliction of duty,” failing to act in the early 1980s on suspicions that Burge and detectives under his command had mistreated prisoners, the prosecutors said. Brzeczek publicly praised the detectives while privately harboring suspicions about their activities, the prosecutors alleged. His inaction, they added, allowed the torture of criminal suspects to continue for years.
“There are cases which we believe would justify our seeking indictments for mistreatment of prisoners by Chicago police officers,” said the prosecutors, Edward Egan and Robert Boyle.
Their conclusions could find their way into civil lawsuits that former Death Row inmates have filed against Burge and the city. Officials at the state appellate defender’s office said they will study the report for evidence of additional wrongful convictions that might be appealed.
Meanwhile, the office of U.S. Atty. Patrick Fitzgerald requested a copy of the 290-page report. The Justice Department during the Clinton administration had looked into torture allegations against Burge and determined they were too old to prosecute.
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It is not clear what Fitzgerald can do with the new information, but civil rights attorneys said it could provide a road map for prosecutors to investigate possible civil rights violations by Burge and others, including high-ranking officials who may have looked the other way.
At the same time, however, the special prosecutors said their investigation raised doubts about torture claims leveled by a handful of former Death Row inmates pardoned by former Gov. George Ryan, who said their confessions had been coerced by Burge.
The special prosecutors said they did not believe Leroy Orange had been tortured and were suspicious of the claims of Madison Hobley, Stanley Howard and, to a lesser degree, Aaron Patterson.
Burge was fired by the Chicago Police Board in 1993 for allegedly torturing a murder suspect. He lives in Florida and still receives a monthly city pension of more than $3,400.
Burge has consistently denied torture allegations. His lawyer, Richard T. Sikes Jr., said Wednesday that Burge “stands on that” claim, and pointed to the report’s skepticism about some torture claims as partial validation.
The city has spent at least $7 million so far defending itself in lawsuits arising from torture allegations tied to Burge, who invoked his 5th Amendment rights against self-incrimination when called to testify before a grand jury. The special prosecutor investigation cost nearly $6.2 million.
“Anyone who thinks it necessary to solve crime by abusing people to get confessions from them is a disgrace,” Boyle said.
Egan, a former judge and prosecutor, and Boyle, also a former prosecutor, were appointed in 2002 by Chief Criminal Court Judge Paul Biebel Jr. to investigate long-standing allegations against Burge.
Egan and Boyle said they launched detailed investigations into 148 cases, almost all involving minority suspects, and determined about half were credible.
Egan and Boyle said the evidence of abuse in at least three of the cases was so strong they were convinced they could prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt if they could prosecute.
The most high-profile of those cases involved Andrew Wilson, arrested along with his brother in 1982 for the murders of two Chicago policemen. The special prosecutors said a confession was beaten out of Wilson, allegedly by Burge and his men, and was later used to convict him.
The conviction and death sentence were overturned, but he was convicted at a retrial and is serving a life sentence. His lawyers now acknowledge his guilt, the report said.
Despite his second conviction, Wilson sued Burge and others, claiming that while in custody he was kicked, slapped and punched, burned in the arm with a cigarette and had a plastic bag put over his head. Wilson said Burge, who was then commander of the Area 2 violent crimes unit on the South Side, applied electronic shocking devices to his ear, fingers and genitals and pressed him against a hot radiator, causing burns. Burge also put a gun inside the suspect’s mouth and clicked it, Wilson claimed.
Burge has denied the allegations in court testimony.
A Cook County jail doctor who later examined Wilson sent a letter to Brzeczek indicating Wilson had been beaten and tortured. Attaching a copy of the doctor’s note, Brzeczek then wrote Daley seeking guidance about how to proceed. Despite regular contact with Daley’s office, Brzeczek posted this letter in the U.S. mail.
“If Supt. Brzeczek had done his duty to investigate the Andrew Wilson case, we would not be here today,” Egan said. “The superintendent did not conduct a meaningful examination [of the allegations] in that letter and he tried to palm it off on somebody else.”
By focusing criticism on him, Brzeczek said the special prosecutors have dodged fully explaining the responsibility that Daley may have borne, as well as the conduct of Burge’s more immediate supervisors.
Responsibility for dealing with the allegations ended up with William Kunkle, then chief deputy state’s attorney and the prosecutor assigned to the Wilson case, who took no action against Burge.
The report criticized Kunkle, now a Cook County judge, for his explanations for burn marks on Wilson. The special prosecutors called the burn marks the most important physical corroboration of Wilson’s torture account.
Kunkle tried to convince special prosecutors that officers who transported Wilson after his questioning inflicted the burns.
The report scoffs at that possibility, in part because the so-called wagon men were never questioned about Wilson or charged with abusing him.
State’s Atty. Richard Devine, who was Daley’s first assistant prosecutor in the early 1980s, said claims of systemic abuse at Area 2 had not “crystallized” at that time and it was not unexpected that defendants in a high-profile murder case would later claim their confessions had been coerced.
“We cannot undo the past,” he said. “We can only commit ourselves to doing all in our power to prevent such abuses from happening in the future.”
Ald. Ed Smith (28th) chairman of the City Council’s black caucus, said he found it “absolutely disgusting” that Burge may emerge free of prosecution.
“That was one of the things that people talked about early on, that they were dragging the process to allow this to happen because they knew he was guilty,” Smith said. “There might be some credibility to that.”
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Key findings
– Torture claims by Andrew Wilson, Alfonzo Pinex and Phillip Adkins “establish guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.”
– Statute of limitations prevents any prosecution of officers involved in torture.
– Former Police Supt. Richard Brzeczek deemed guilty of a “dereliction of duty” for not investigating torture claims.
– Some torture claims are found not credible, including those that prompted then- Gov. George Ryan to pardon Leroy Orange in 2003.
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WHERE ARE THEY NOW?
Peter Dignan
One-time police lieutenant accused of torture has taken the 5th in legal proceedings related to the Jon Burge allegations. Once accused of placing a shotgun in the mouth of suspect Darrell Cannon during questioning in a drug-related murder in 1983, a claim Cannon later dropped.
Hired as an investigator for the Cook County sheriff’s office in 2003.
John Byrne
Former police sergeant long considered Burge’s right-hand man. Once accused in the alleged Cannon torture, and accused in the alleged abuse of ex-Death Row inmates including Stanley Howard. Has asserted 5th Amendment rights against self-incrimination.
Retired and now works as a private investigator.
Michael Hoke
Former Burge partner who rose to head internal affairs for the Police Department. Hoke was granted immunity in the special prosecutors’ investigation.
Now retired.
Daniel McWeeny
Former officer who testified in the investigation after being granted immunity. Once helped circulate a petition to have Burge reinstated after his 1993 firing.
Now an investigator for the Cook County state’s attorney’s office.
LeRoy Martin
Former police superintendent who briefly was a commander over Burge at Area 2 and has denied knowing suspects were abused there. As superintendent, he moved to fire Burge after initially defending officers against an internal report on torture allegations.
Now supervisor of investigators for the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
Aaron Patterson
Former Death Row prisoner alleged he was tortured at Area 2 during an investigation of the 1986 murders of Vincent and Rafaela Sanchez, saying a typewriter bag was placed over his head to get him to confess. Pardoned in 2003 by former Gov. George Ryan.
Convicted and awaiting sentencing in a 2004 federal drug conspiracy case.
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Richard Devine
First assistant state’s attorney from 1981 to 1983. Also once worked for a law firm that defended Burge, leading Cook County’s chief Criminal Court judge to decide in 2002 that Devine had a conflict of interest in investigating the torture claims.
Now Cook County state’s attorney
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Key points during allegations of police torture
1970
Jon Burge
joins the Chicago Police Department as a recruit. He serves in investigative posts through the 1970s and is commander from 1981.
1982
FEBRUARY: Police question Andrew Wilson, a suspect in the fatal shooting of two officers.
FEB. 17: The Cook County Jail doctor sends a letter to Chicago Police Supt. Richard Brzeczek that says an examination of Wilson showed he suffered multiple injuries before entering the jail.
FEB. 25: Brzeczek forwards the doctor’s letter to Richard Daley, who was Cook County state’s attorney at the time, and asks him for guidance on how to proceed with an investigation. Daley never responded, according to Brzeczek.
1983
Wilson and his brother, Jackie, are convicted of the killings for the first time. Andrew Wilson is sentenced to death.
1987
The Illinois Supreme Court reverses the Wilsons’ convictions, citing evidence that Andrew Wilson was coerced and beaten in police custody. Both Wilsons later are convicted again and sentenced to life terms.
1989
In a $10 million suit against the City of Chicago, Burge and three other police officers, Wilson testifies that they beat, suffocated and electrocuted him during interrogations.
1992
FEBRUARY: An internal department report unsealed in a federal court hearing charges that at least seven officers at the Area 2 police station on the South Side carried out “systematic torture” from 1973 to 1986. It also charges that police supervisors knew of the abuse.
1993
Burge is fired after the Chicago Police Board determines that he held Andrew Wilson against a hot radiator in order to get a confession in the murder case of the two officers.
2002
APRIL: Cook County Judge Paul Biebel appoints Edward Egan and Robert Boyle as special prosecutors to investigate allegations that Burge and officers under him used torture to coerce confessions from more than 200 suspects in the 1970s and ’80s.
2006
JULY: Special prosecutors say Burge and several officers under him were guilty of abuse but cannot be prosecuted because too much time has passed. Their report also says Brzeczek was guilty of “dereliction of duty” for not acting against Burge.
Sources: Tribune reports, U.S. District Court 1988 deposition of Burge
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By the numbers
LEGAL COSTS
$7.2 million
Minimum estimated amount City of Chicago and Cook County have spent so far on investigations, outside counsel and settlements for cases in which former police Cmdr. Jon Burge or his associates were accused of torturing suspects
Includes $2.1 million
Cost so far in cases involving former Death Row inmate Aaron Patterson, who was pardoned of murder in 2003 and who alleges that police tortured him to obtain a false confession in the 1980s
and $531,227
Cost for outside counsel for proceedings to fire Burge from the department for torturing a suspect
PENSION
$3,403
Monthly pension paid to Burge
THE BURGE REPORT
$6.2 million
Cost to Cook County taxpayers for special prosecutors’ investigation and 292-page report into torture allegations
4 years, 3 months
Time spent investigating torture allegations
33,360
Individual documents reviewed
700
People questioned in the investigation
217
Grand jury subpoenas issued
148
Cases fully investigated, about half of which were found to have involved torture
Sources: City of Chicago Department of Law, Policemen’s Annuity and Benefit Fund, special prosecutors office
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More online
Get the latest and read the entire special prosecutor’s report on police torture online at chicagotribune.com/burge