'Justice for a horrible crime'

More than two decades after Jeanine Nicarico was abducted and slain, a former Aurora man already serving a life sentence for two other killings has been charged with murdering the 10-year-old Naperville girl.

The latest twist in the 22-year legal saga -- which has seen two other men sentenced to death for the killing but later freed -- came Tuesday when a DuPage County grand jury indicted Brian J. Dugan, 49, for Jeanine's murder. Jeanine was abducted on Feb. 25, 1983, and her body was discovered two days later along the Illinois Prairie Path.

Saying he was "pursuing justice for a horrendous, horrible crime," DuPage County State's Attorney Joseph Birkett vowed to seek a death sentence if Dugan, imprisoned since 1985, is convicted of bludgeoning Jeanine to death after kidnapping and raping her. Birkett said he "couldn't stomach" agreeing to a guilty plea in exchange for only a life sentence.

"In my view, despite the passage of time, this defendant ought to be exposed to the ultimate punishment, the death penalty," said Birkett, who revived the investigation in 2001 after civil lawsuits were settled with three men originally charged with Jeanine's killing.

Two of those men, Rolando Cruz and Alejandro Hernandez, were twice convicted of the crime and sentenced to die. Cruz was acquitted during a third trial in 1995, and prosecutors opted not to retry Hernandez after his conviction was tossed out on appeal. Charges against a third man, Stephen Buckley, were dropped in 1987.

Seven police officers and prosecutors later were charged with framing Cruz, but they were acquitted of all charges in 1999.

Jeanine's mother, Patricia Nicarico, told WBBM-Channel 2 outside her home Tuesday she supported seeking the death penalty.

"That is the only punishment there should be for him," she said, adding that she still believes other perpetrators were involved.

But former defense lawyers Larry Marshall, Scott Turow, Gary Johnson and Michael Metnick, while applauding the 15-count murder indictment, argued that the death penalty no longer is appropriate.

"I hope the jury that ultimately considers Brian Dugan's fate bears in mind that whatever horrible acts he committed, he somehow had the strength of character to take responsibility for a murder for which other men had been sentenced to death," Turow said.

Former State Police Lt. Ed Cisowski, who led an investigation into Dugan in 1986, said: "I am glad the truth finally surfaced. I'm just sorry it took this long."

Birkett said he was confident that prosecutors have enough evidence to convict Dugan of Jeanine's murder, even if Dugan's attorneys argue that some or all of the earlier defendants in the case were involved.

"The fact others have been accused does not preclude a conviction for Brian Dugan," Birkett said.

Asked if the indictment means prosecutors believe Dugan alone killed Jeanine, Birkett answered indirectly, saying: "The evidence available supports this

Prosecutors have said little about what evidence led to the indictment, but sources have said DNA and other evidence strongly link Dugan to the little girl's rape, if not directly to her murder.

In out-of-court statements, Dugan has admitted murdering Jeanine, but legal observers have said they doubt those admissions can be used in court. His attorneys are expected to argue that much of the evidence previously gathered against him is inadmissible because it was collected after the start of a plea-bargaining process.

Dugan's former attorney, Thomas McCulloch, said he "is pretty confident" Dugan would plead guilty to Jeanine's murder if prosecutors agreed not to seek a death sentence. McCulloch, who has not yet been retained to represent Dugan, said a possible defense strategy would be to have Dugan plead guilty to the murder, hoping that admission then would allow him to avoid the death penalty when he is sentenced.

Among Dugan's crimes are the July 15, 1984, slaying of 27-year-old Donna Schnorr of Geneva and the June 2, 1985, murder of Melissa Ackerman, a 7-year-old girl abducted in Somonauk. Schnorr's brother, Roger, said Tuesday Dugan deserves the death penalty for all the agony he caused not only his victims, but their families and friends as well.

Dugan remained Tuesday in the Pontiac Correctional Center, but he is expected to be transferred to the DuPage County Jail.

Birkett, a young prosecutor in DuPage County when Jeanine was murdered, wouldn't criticize predecessors who prosecuted Cruz, Hernandez and Buckley.

Feb. 25, 1983: Jeanine Nicarico, 10, is kidnapped from her Naperville home. Her raped and beaten body is found two days later near the Illinois Prairie Path.

March 8, 1984: Three Aurora men, Alejandro Hernandez, 20; Rolando Cruz, 20, and Stephen Buckley, 21, are charged with the murder.

Feb. 22, 1985: Jury convicts Hernandez, Cruz of Jeanine’s slaying, deadlocks on Buckley. A month later Cruz and Hernandez are sentenced to death.

Nov. 19, 1985: As part of a plea agreement, Dugan is sentenced to life in prison for the rapes and murders of Melissa Ackerman and Donna Schnorr.

Jan. 19, 1988: The Illinois Supreme Court overturns the Hernandez and Cruz convictions.

Feb. 1, 1990: Cruz is convicted a second time and once again sentenced to death.

May 16, 1991: Hernandez is retried and convicted again. Later he is sentenced to 80 years in prison.

Jan. 30, 1995: The Illinois Appellate Court overturns Hernandez's second conviction.

Sept. 21, 1995: DNA results exclude Cruz as the source of semen found in Jeanine's body, and implicate Dugan in the girl's rape.

Dec. 8, 1995: DuPage Circuit Judge Thomas Callum dismisses all charges against Hernandez.

Dec. 12, 1996: Prosecutor William J. Kunkle Jr. announces the indictments of the DuPage Seven, seven law officers and lawyers accused of conspiring to deny Cruz a fair trial.

May 13, 1999: Circuit Judge William Kelly acquits two of the DuPage Seven defendants.

June 4, 1999: Judge Kelly and a jury acquit the remaining five DuPage Seven defendants.

Sept. 26, 2000: DuPage County State’s Attorney Joseph Birkett agrees to settle wrongful conviction lawsuits filed by Buckley Cruz and Hernandez for $3.5 million.

Nov. 29, 2005: A DuPage County grand jury indicts Brian Dugan for the murder of Jeanine Nicarico.

In 1983, the Nicarico family had achieved a suburban dream: a pleasant home on a tree-lined street in an unincorporated area on the edge of southwest suburban Naperville.

Thomas and Patricia Nicarico had moved with their children to the Naperville area about eight years earlier from New York, where Thomas and Patricia had met while Thomas was in the Navy.

The Nicaricos had three children and a small dog. Thomas was an engineer at the Chicago firm of DeLeuw Cather & Co. Patricia was secretary to the elementary school principal of nearby Ellsworth School and taught catechism classes in the family home.

Christine, the oldest, was in high school, Kathy was in junior high and Jeanine, the youngest, was in the fifth grade. The family attended mass at St. Raphael Catholic Church in Naperville.

Jeanine, whom one neighbor described as "all sweetness and bubbles," had struggled the previous year with her classwork at Elmwood School in Naperville, but a teacher who tied Jeanine's love of horses to classroom exercises helped Jeanine improve. She liked riding horses and playing soccer and she took piano lessons.

On Feb. 25, 1983, Jeanine was home alone after coming home early from school the day before with what might have been a touch of the flu. Patricia came home twice to check on Jeanine and to make her lunch. About 1 p.m., Jeanine called her mother at school to say she had heard her grandparents' hometown of Syosset, N.Y., mentioned on TV. Patricia suggested Jeanine write her grandparents and tell them about it.

About 2:40 p.m., one of Jeanine's friends called to see if she was feeling better, but there was no answer. When Kathy came home at about 3:05 p.m., she found the door kicked open. There was no sign of Jeanine. Kathy alerted a neighbor, who called Patricia at school.

When Patricia rushed home, Jeanine still was missing. The television on the lower level was still on, and there was an unfinished note from Jeanine to her grandparents on the table in front of it.

Jeanine's battered body was found two days later along the Illinois Prairie Path on the western edge of DuPage County.

"It's very difficult for me to put into words the tremendous effect on our family -- the tremendous loss and emptiness in our family," Patricia later testified, adding that she had spent many nights when she had cried herself to sleep or didn't sleep at all. "Jeanine was our baby. The last one will always be your baby. She was just a very, very special little girl."

Thomas testified that the murder "put a cloud over our lives. It's the bogey man come to life."

When Brian James Dugan left his room at an Aurora boarding house on the morning of June 2, 1985, his landlady, Bernice Larson, felt sure he was going to do something bad.

Knowing Dugan was going to be taking some vacation days, Larson had tried to get him involved in tearing down a barn next door, but the project wasn't ready to start.

Then, Dugan, a medium-built, brown-haired man with a mustache, sneaked out early in the morning, taking a bag of clothes with him.

Larson didn't know it, but Dugan, then 27, already had a long criminal record. His first arrest, for which he received court supervision at age 15, was on Jan. 23, 1972, for burglary. He quit school for good at 16. A long string of subsequent crimes, including arsons, burglaries, an attack on a 10-year-old Lisle girl, resisting arrest and possession of drugs, sent him to a youth home, a youth correctional facility, a California jail, an Illinois jail and then Illinois prisons.

But it was the crime on June 2 that sent Dugan to prison for good. Driving to the nearby village of Somonauk, Dugan attempted to abduct two young girls. One was able to climb out the window of his car, but the other, Melissa Ackerman, 7, was abducted, raped and drowned. Dugan was arrested and charged with the murder later that month.

During plea bargaining, Dugan admitted killing Melissa as well as Donna Schnorr, a Geneva nurse, in 1984. He also admitted three sexual assaults and other crimes.

Although Dugan was personable and could give a good first impression, he also had a darker side, said those who encountered him.

"He probably was the coldest human I ever met," said former State Police Lt. Ed Cisowski, who led a 1986 investigation into Dugan.

Horrible to think it took this long to find the guilty party.

And I'm not sure if I understand some hints in the article that the other parties, who were later exonerated and released, may have been involved after all in some sort of group murder.

Has this angle been followed up? Have they questioned Dugan about possible accomplices? The whole thing is depressing to read.

"And I'm not sure if I understand some hints in the article that the other parties, who were later exonerated and released, may have been involved after all in some sort of group murder.

Has this angle been followed up? Have they questioned Dugan about possible accomplices? The whole thing is depressing to read"

It would be unusual for a child rapist and murderer to have accomplices, especially for one who was an opportunist as opposed to a planner.

For instance, I never believed Tawana Brawley, even though I was a liberal at the time, because the kind of men she described, in that time and place, just don't do that kind of thing. Your garden variety street thugs and house-breakers (assuming the men originally convicted were as bad as that) just aren't likely to rape a little girl. A woman, yes.

Jeanine Nicarico

"In February 2002, the Coalition held a press conference in Chicago to kick off a petition drive requesting Dugan's indictment. The petition contends that the DuPage criminal justice system repeatedly prosecuted the two Latinos (Cruz and Hernandez.) without a thread of physical evidence or eyewitness testimony."

"Meanwhile, Dugan has not been indicted despite the evidence against him. That evidence includes his confession under hypnosis, a lie detector test Dugan passed, and Dugan's account of the abduction, rape and murder of Jeanine Nicarico."

"Dugan's confession was first documented by the DuPage state's attorney's office and later corroborated by Illinois State Police commander Ed Cisowski. The evidence against Dugan also includes DNA testing done in 1995. The test, which the Coalition contends would be much more accurate if done today, concludes that there is a 3 -in- 10,000 chance that Dugan did not leave the semen found at the crime scene. The same test excludes Cruz, Hernandez and Buckley as rapists of Jeanine Nicarico."

"On November 5, 2002, Jim Ryan and Joseph Birkett were defeated in their quest for governor and attorney general. Days later, Birkett acknowledged that new DNA testing had established with "scientific certainty" that Dugan was involved in Jeanine Nicarico's murder. Birkett's office was aware of the DNA results for months before it was publicly released."

tilljusticeisdone.com/

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