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Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
Murder |
Sentence: |
Life Imprisonment |
Years Imprisoned: |
21.5 |
Year Crime: |
1986 |
Year Convicted: |
1987 |
Year Cleared: |
2008 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
Illinois |
County or Region of Crime: |
Edgar |
City of Crime: |
Paris |
Result: |
Judicially Exonerated Released |
Summary of Case: |
"Herbert Whitlock and Gordon Randall Steidl were co-defendants. Both men were wrongly convicted in 1987 of murdering a newlywed couple, Karen and Dyke Rhoads, in 1986 based on the testimony of two prosecution witnesses who claimed to have been present when the Rhoads were stabbed to death and their home set on fire. The witnesses, Deborah Reinbolt and Darrell Harrington, were both alcoholics. Gordon Steidel was sentenced to death, while Herbert Whitlock was sentenced to life in prison. Steidl spent 12 years on death row before being resentenced to to life in prison in 1999. After a federal judge reversed his conviction in June 2003 based on his trial lawyer's failure to investigate exculpatory evidence, Steidl was released on May 28, 2004 when a county judge granted the State's Attorney's motion to dismiss the charges against him. In 2007 the Fourth District Illinois Appellate Court ordered a new trial for Whitlock based on the failure to disclose exculpatory evidence that the prosecution's two main witnesses initially implicated other suspects, and that officials provided the alcoholic witnesses drinks. Whitlock was released from prison on January 8, 2008 when the prosecution dismissed the indictment against him. On October 25, 2011 the Illinois State Patrol agreed to settle Steidl's federal civil rights lawsuit for $2.5 million." |
Conviction Caused By: |
Perjury by two prosecution witness |
Innocence Proved By: |
"Conviction overturned by Illinois Court of Appeals in 2007. Indictment dismissed and Whitlock released on January 8, 2008." |
Defendant Aided By: |
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Compensation Awarded: |
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Was Perpetrator Identified? |
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Age When Imprisoned: |
40 |
Age When Released: |
62 |
Sex: |
Male |
Skin/Ethnicity: |
White |
Information Source 1: |
"Whitlock is free man after two decades in prison for Paris, Il. Murder, The Tribune Star (Terre Haute, IN), January 8, 2008" |
Information Location 1: |
http://www.tribstar.com/news/local_story_008115929.html |
Information Source 2: |
"Freedom granted, but not innocence, by Hal Dardick, The Chicago Tribune, January 5, 2008" |
Information Location 2: |
http://archives.chicagotribune.com/2008/jan/05/news/chi-whitlock_05jan05 |
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Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org