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Terrill Swift, Michael Saunders, Vincent Thames, Harold Richardson, and Jerry Fincher

State: Illinois
Background
 
 
   
In November 1994, a troubled, drug-addicted prostitute was found raped and strangled in a dumpster in Chicago’s Englewood community. The case was unsolved for four months until in March 1995, five teenage boys – Jerry Fincher (18), Vincent Thames (18), Terrill Swift (17), Harold Richardson (16), and Michael Saunders (14) confessed to Chicago police detectives. While Fincher avoided conviction, the other four were convicted and remain under sentence.

Now, there is no way that five people would falsely confess to the same crime, right? Well, consider that the boys’ interrogator has already been connected to five other proven false confessions of youths and mentally deficient adults. Consider that several witnesses saw the victim alive hours after the boys’ confessions say they murdered her. Consider that the confessions claim that they beat her over the head with a shovel up to 12 times, yet the autopsy revealed no evidence of blunt force trauma.

So, there are some problems with the details in the confession, but that doesn’t mean they didn’t do it, right? Well, here’s the kicker… a single source semen sample extracted from the victim was tested for DNA. It excluded each of the five defendants!

Whose DNA was on this poor woman? Well, there is reason to believe it could be one of several serial killers were wreaking havoc on this neighborhood. One such man was Andre Crawford, who was recently convicted of 11 murders in the same neighborhood and during the same time period. Crawford’s modus operandi was to beat, rape, and strangle drug-addicted prostitutes and abandon their bodies in a fashion almost identical to the facts of this case. Crawford was not yet caught and not in the system at the time, so the DNA in this case was never tested against him.

But come on, would five boys really confess to the same crime if all were truly innocent? It has happened before. Perhaps the most famous example is the Central Park Jogger case, in which five teenagers confessed to assaulting a young woman in Central Park in 1989. DNA later proved each of them totally innocent and implicated a known criminal who admitted acting alone. And the Lori Roscetti case here in Chicago provides another example, as three young boys were wrongfully convicted of her rape and murder based on their own statements that later proved to be false.

There were at least 40 rapes and murders of prostitutes in Englewood in the 1990s. Some were committed by Crawford, some were committed by other known serial rapists/murderers like Hubert Geralds, Ronald Macon, or Bernard Middleton, and yet others still remain unsolved. If the DNA extracted from Nina Glover matches one of these known or unknown killers, we’ll no once and for all that Terrill Swift and his co-defendants were wrongfully convicted.

The CWCY has asked the Cook County State’s Attorney to consent to DNA testing. We are awaiting a response.


Update: September 24, 2010
With the help of CWCY attorneys and the advocacy of Dolores Kennedy and others, Terrill Swift was paroled in May. By any stretch of the imagination, he was an ideal parolee. He got himself a job and followed every rule and regulation his parole officer ordered. Anything except admit to the offense -- who can blame him, a false admission is what ruined his life at age 17. Terrill's parole officer ordered that he take a polygraph. Terrill did so, and they asked him about the offense. As he's done since the day of his confession, he denied his involvement. Some polygrapher apparently determined that the results of the polygraph were inconclusive. The Illinois Department of Corrections violated him. He was sent back to prison. As if 15 years imprisoned wrongfully isn't enough, Terrill was sent back because some dubious technology couldn't tell if he was telling the truth or not. With pressure from us and Tribune journalist Eric Zorn, Terrill was released after 8 days in prison yesterday. We are happy he is home. Now it is time to test the DNA and solve this case once and for all.

News

Truth is, faith in polygraphs led to false imprisonment
Chicago Tribune - September 24, 2010
CWCY client Terrill Swift is innocent of the November 1994 rape and murder of Nina Glover. A false confession caused him to serve 15 years in prison for a crime he did not commit. Because he won't falsely confess again to a polygrapher, his parole officer sent him back to prison. An inconclusive polygraph was the State's good cause. The injustice faced by Terrill and his co-defendants is like none other that I have personally ever witnessed.

Man convicted in 1994 rape, murder pins hopes on advanced DNA test
Chicago Tribune - March 25, 2011
CWCY client Terrill Swift's fight for justice is chronicled in this front page news story of the Chicago Tribune. DNA testing on behalf of Terrill is ongoing.