 Profiles in Courage
continued from page 3 Nicarico murder investigation, Sam was convinced that Cruz, et al. were innocent. He pursued other suspects until the chief of prosecutions and the sheriff removed him from the case and demoted him, forcing him to quit the force in 1984. He has been unable to continue his career in law enforcement. Mary Brigid Hayes. Hayes (formerly Kenney) was working for then Attorney General Roland Burris in 1991 when she was asked to continue the prosecution of Cruz. After examining the case, she became convinced that neither Cruz nor Hernandez were guilty. When Attorney General Burris insisted that prosecution of Cruz go forward, Hayes resigned, proclaiming: “I cannot sit idly as this office continues to pursue the unjust prosecution and execution of Rolando Cruz.” She now works for the Cook County Public Guardian’s Office in Chicago. Ed Cisowski. During the 1980s, Cisowski worked as commander of the Illinois State Police’s investigation division in DuPage County. Cisowski was asked to look into the possible involvement of repeat sex offender and murderer Brian Dugan in several cases. In the course of the interviews, Dugan confessed to killing Nicarico as well. Despite his confession backed by corroborating evidence, investigators refused to consider Dugan as the culprit and even accused Cisowski of leaking specific case-related details to Dugan. As a result Ed retired from the Illinois State Police. In 2009 Brian Dugan was finally convicted and sentenced to death for killing Nicarico. Each of these individuals is a “profile in courage.” Their willingness to stand up and sacrifice for what was right serves as a contrast to the ugliness of the crime and the oppression of the state authorities. Their actions need to be recognized and their stories told many times. We owe that to these honorable people; we owe it to ourselves to follow their example. Larry Golden is an emeritus professor of political studies and legal Studies at UIS and is the director of the Downstate Illinois Innocence Project. |
