Gauger civil case ruling upheld

An appellate court has upheld a civil court's 2009 ruling that three McHenry County investigators did not conspire against Gary Gauger, a Richmond man convicted of the April 1993 murder of his parents.

Two other men were eventually convicted in the slayings and Gauger was freed after spending about 3½ years in prison, including nine months on Death Row, and eventually pardoned by then-Gov. George Ryan in 2002.

Gauger sued McHenry County, then-Undersheriff Gene Lowery and retired Detectives Beverly Hendle and Christopher Pandre for $20 million — but lost in August 2009.

“Myself and my colleagues are pleased. We were honest in everything we did and everything that transpired in the case,” said Lowery, now deputy chief in Crystal Lake. “There are no winners here.”

In his appeal, Gauger argued that evidence of how the real killers murdered his parents was unfairly excluded from trial and resulted in prejudice against him,

The appellate panel, in its 51-page ruling, disagreed.

“We cannot conclude that the trial court's ruling was unreasonable or an abuse of discretion,” the ruling read, in part.

Gauger was living with his parents, Ruth and Morris, near Richmond in April 1993 when they were found murdered in the family farm off Route 173. Their throats had been slashed.

Gauger was arrested and his alleged confession after 18 hours of interrogation was the driving force behind his conviction later that year.

But a federal investigation in 1995 into the Outlaws motorcycle gang led to the arrest and convictions of Randall Miller and James “Preacher” Schneider for the murders.

Gauger sued the county and the three investigators, claiming they falsely reported that Gauger confessed.

A message left for Matthew Crowl, Gauger's attorney, was not immediately returned.

Jim Sotos, an attorney hired by the county to defend the investigators, said he hopes the appellate court's ruling will put the matter to rest.

“We are very pleased with the court's decision. The officers had to live under the cloud of these allegations for many years,” he said.