The Will County Sheriff's Office defends its detectives' handling of the case, including the 14 1/2-hour interrogation that led to Fox's confession. By now, hundreds of townsfolk were clawing through brush and woods. "Because I think to myself what Riley would be doing right now. On October 21st, his father, Donald Tomczak, was arrested on a federal indictment in the Hired Truck scandal in Chicago. . Months. ", And yet, "I'm sitting there thinking there's videotape of the car," she says. A Wilmington crime scene investigator arrived within minutes. Chad Fox looked on the rumors as confirmation that Kevin-still not represented by a lawyer-was a suspect, perhaps the only suspect. "I hated leaving him there," Chad says. ), The detectives then took Kevin back to the interrogation room and resumed the questioning, according to the lawsuit. The boy, who is extremely shy with strangers, answers reluctantly, with head shakes and nods. I pledged the same fraternity. 79/63F. "They were putting words in his mouth," she claims. Joyful Fox Danced Over DNA News; . Will County detectives spent considerable time and effort establishing that other local owners of dark Ford Escapes were not in sight of the video camera that morning. As to the question of who would confess to a crime so heinous if they didn't do it, Steven Drizin, a leading authority on false confessions, says that is the least mysterious part of the story. BIOG: NAME: UPD: 19970226 -TEXT-. There's a bowling alley and a post office and a small movie house. The authorities have not mentioned the videotape in court, though they did bring it up during the interrogation before Kevin confessed. "I felt like a zoo animal.". . They simply broke him down psychologically to a point where he believed that the only way he was going to get this nightmare to stop was to confess. ", Today, Zellner says that what impressed her was Kevin's immediate denial of the crime. "I knew he was innocent, and I knew my family was in for the fight of its life," he says. The resident's face was blocked out, but the message clear: the anonymous source clearly spoke for most everyone in Wilmington, and most everyone in Wilmington believed Kevin Fox was guilty of murdering his daughter. Both stations share studios on Shipyard Boulevard in Wilmington, while WSFX-TV's . The interrogation and arrest of Fox, the suit alleges, was part of a last-ditch effort by Tomczak to win re-election. But when one of Zellner's assistants tried to do so with a 40-pound bag-the approximate weight of Riley at the time of the murder-the bag was blocked by debris. "She is in pain and needs closure. Northwestern University School of Law's Center on Wrongful Convictions reports that 60 percent of the 42 wrongful murder convictions since 1970 in Illinois have rested in whole or in part on false confessions. "Rape kits"-samples of DNA collected from Riley's body-were sent to the Illinois State Police crime lab for analysis. But after the initial testing by the state crime lab, with its inconclusive finding on saliva, the DNA had been sent to the FBI lab in Quantico, Virginia, which had a nine-month backlog. 21244 W Highway 113 Rte #113, Wilmington, IL 60481. A father of two, he made a failed run for Congress in 1994, but in the 2000 race for Will County state's attorney, the Republican Tomczak beat the incumbent Democrat, James Glasgow. As Glasgow spoke, Kevin began to weep. What's more, Tomczak's father, Donald, second-in-command at the City of Chicago's water department, had just been named in a federal indictment for corruption. They tricked me.' This time there were no cameras or tape recorders. Fox Born: July 26, 1947 in Joliet, IL Died: April 8, 2021 in New Lenox, IL Age 73 of Wilmington, formerly of Joliet, passed away Thursday, April 8, 2021 at Silver Cross. 442-H New York Standard Operating Procedures New York Fair Housing Notice TREC: . He had suffered threats and the ridicule of guards, according to his lawsuit. It is owned by American Spirit Media, which maintains a shared services agreement (SSA) with Gray Television, owner of NBC affiliate WECT (channel 6), for the provision of certain services. 82/55F. Par for the course. She had been following the case in the media, and she urged Chad to get his brother to talk to her. [1] After Riley's father was initially accused and then cleared by DNA evidence, paroled convict Scott Eby confessed to the crime and was convicted. Kevin Fox was born in 1968. They urged Kevin to hire an attorney. Again, this was the first he'd heard of it. "And you'd have to have hit her on the head with a hammer to get the effect" Kevin described in the interrogation. Not fair! Subscribe for free today! The band broke into song. Zellner insists that there was exculpatory evidence-in the so-called rape kits with material taken from Riley. In fact, the case was already out of their hands. Kevin Corke is an American journalist and is presently a White House Correspondents' Association for Fox News in Washington D.C. Corke has covered four U.S. administrations (Bush, Obama, Trump, Biden). "Any charges of politics are baseless," Tomczak said in a statement the day after Fox's arrest. "We need you to come to the police station," an officer told them. The family sued the state and won $15 million, which later was reduced to $8.5 million. Weather forecast Wilmington, North Carolina . TueWedThuFriSat. Will County sheriff's detectives had taken charge, assuming jurisdiction because the crime scene was in a forest preserve. The order, it would later be revealed, had come from detective Ed Hayes. Chicago, IL: (Mar-21-08) The family of 3-year-old Riley Fox brought a wrongful death lawsuit against the Will County Sheriff's Department, after the death of the girl in 2004. ", Kevin's account of the interrogation continues: Swearengen burst into the room, out of breath and saying he had just talked to Tomczak. "So just say you did it." Mass of Christian Burial 10:30 a.m. Interment private. "We don't want to lose sight of one of the big tragedies-and major points-of this case," Zellner says, "the fact that, because the wrong man was pursued, a killer is still on the loose. Though the police denied using force, Kevins attorney had the DNA from the crime scene tested against Kevins own DNA. When pressed about the car, Kevin recalls, he became exasperated and suggested sarcastically that someone must have snuck into his house, stolen his keys, taken the car, and returned it later. Check Background Get Contact . In the cold, shallow, murky water of Forked Creek, Riley's body floated, face-down. Local 630-955-1212 | Toll . ), Around Wilmington, rumors began to swirl that the Foxes were using money donated to a "Riley fund" for extravagant vacations and luxury purchases. He turned to Lyons, incredulous that the detective hadn't told him earlier. (Will County investigators refuse comment on the quality of the videotape. Tomczak did not return calls requesting an interview, but in court pleadings he has denied any wrongdoing, including any suggestion that Kevin Fox's arrest was related to his re-election campaign. The girl was kidnapped from. . "I can make a deal for him. (A water usage report from that night suggests that the washing machine did not run.) In hindsight, the couple believe that either the police "were just completely overwhelmed by the fact that there was a murder in Wilmington and they had no idea what to do," Melissa says, "-or they were watching to see how we would react." Subscribe to one or more of our free e-mail newsletters to get instant updates on local news, events, and opportunities in Chicago. And why did the door lock when he left the room? God Bless and stay safe. "There are some red flags that are making us look at Kevin," Melissa recalls the detective saying. Tyler, the six-year-old spitting image of his dad, bore the ring; beside him toddled Tyler's three-year-old sister, Riley. Outside the courtroom, more than 100 friends and family greeted them. Guilfoyle reported that Tyler claimed he stood in the kitchen and saw his father using the clothes dryer after he returned. A year after their marriage, they added a daughter to the family-an apple-cheeked princess with a pile of light brown hair. Three-year-old Riley Fox of Wilmington, Illinois, was kidnapped from her home early in the morning on June 6, 2004, as her brother and father slept nearby. His voice trails off. After Champagne and pizza at Zellner's office, Kevin, Melissa, and Tyler spent the evening at Chad and Stacy's apartment in Chicago, safely away from the media. Kevin Corke currently serves as an FNC correspondent based in Washington, DC. 79/63F. They describe a codified series of emotional and intellectual manipulations designed to break down even the strongest of personalities. Mark M. Strothmann, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Wilmington, quoting Mark 10:14. According to a statement he later gave police, he picked the kids up and drove them home at around 1 a.m. Then, too tired to make up their beds, he laid them down in the living room-Riley on the couch and Tyler on a chair with a footstool. . And he had no idea how his car wound up on a security tape. Tyler shakes his head "no" several times. Among the allegations was that the father had made illegal contributions to his son's campaign. He grabbed the back of Kevin's shirt and pulled his face close. ", At one point, according to the lawsuit, Hayes leaned close and told Kevin that he "knew people" at the jail, "and would make sure' that Kevin was fucked' every day unless he told them what they wanted to hear." When pressed, however, the boy seemed less sure. But when she looked for confirmation from two detectives who stood in the room-including Todd Lyons, a burly, bald Wilmington investigator to whom Kevin had delivered papers when he was a boy-they "just stared at us," she says. With bond set at $25 million, the family decided, on Zellner's advice, not to try to get Kevin out, but to put their money toward clearing his name. "I thought it was a little strange," Melissa says. "I finally kicked the door really hard," she says. "Everything's going to be OK," she told him. As if in anticipation of unavoidable criticism, Tomczak had earlier stopped at the defense table where Kevin Fox's attorney, Kathleen Zellner, was seated. After returning home with his children at around 1 am, Kevin put his kids in the living room and went to bed at 2:30 am. (Williams refused to comment because of the pending litigation. June 6, 2004: Kevin Fox of Wilmington reports his 3-year-old daughter, Riley, missing about 8 a.m. Hikers find her body about 3:30 p.m. in nearby creek after massive search. Then, on June 7th, came the answer. On October 26th, Swearengen called Kevin Fox to say, by Kevin's account, that there was news about the case and that the Foxes should come to the police station that night. If you say it was an accident, it's involuntary manslaughter with a three to five year sentence. ABC Desperate to find out what happened to her daughter, Melissa said she reached out to the detectives every day and that they assured her they were investigating the case thoroughly. Whats even sadder is that the detectives and all parties involved were not interested in finding the real monster who would take such a beautiful innocent child away from their family. He's a local resident. . Go home now on bond.". Panicking, he scooped her up and carried her to his car, retrieving some duct tape from the back. But if Kevin was joking, the police apparently didn't get it. Their lenses, the family later learned, were trained not on the ceremony, or the casket, but on the mourners, including Kevin Fox. According to the sheriff's summary of the interrogation, when Curt Fox told the detectives that he wanted them to stop questioning his son, Swearengen replied, "Kevin is 27 years old and he came to the investigation office voluntarily." Tomczak, was arrested on a federal indictment in the Hired Truck scandal in.! Kevin-Still not represented by a lawyer-was a suspect, perhaps the only suspect answer. 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