Fox thought about taking his own life

As he languished in jail after being charged with killing his daughter, Kevin Fox said he contemplated suicide while isolated from his family and suffering the taunts of other inmates who labeled him a child sex killer.

Fox said he penned a journal detailing his despair during eight months in the Will County jail until DNA evidence freed him in June 2005.

"I even thought about an easy way out, taking my life," he wrote. "But I told myself I was better than that. I am not going to lose this battle that I found myself in."

Fox read some excerpts Wednesday to a federal jury in his civil rights trial alleging authorities tried to frame him through fabricated evidence and a coerced confession.

Hikers found the partially nude body of his 3-year-old daughter, Riley, in a creek June 6, 2004, hours after she disappeared from her nearby home in Wilmington, a far Southwest suburb. Her murder remains unsolved.

In their lawsuit, Kevin Fox and his wife, Melissa, allege that Will County sheriff's officials subjected the father to threats, lies and false promises of a deal during a 14½-hour interrogation that began late Oct. 26, 2004.

Fox brought a couple jurors to tears Tuesday after he described their special father-daughter bond, and how he is grappling with the realization he wasn't there to save Riley.

Defense attorney Robert Smith worked damage control Wednesday during a lengthy cross examination as Fox's testimony continued.

Smith argues authorities had probable cause to arrest Fox even before he confessed. The defense argues Fox was the last person to see Riley alive; his young son told a detective he saw Fox leave the house with her, and surveillance footage from a service station showed a car that resembled Fox's.

Though Fox maintains detectives violated his rights during the interrogation, he admitted Wednesday being advised of those rights and acknowledged his signature on the Miranda form, as well as other waivers.

Fox said detectives took turns questioning him for 10 of the 14½-hour interview, but defense records show it was more like five hours. He admitted voluntarily taking the lie detector test, but Fox said he had no other choice.

"They were egging me on, saying they knew I would fail it," he testified. "I knew I didn't do this to my daughter. So, I would say I was forced."

Smith said it wasn't until the DNA evidence was available in June 2005 that police changed their minds.

"They don't (now) believe he was involved," Smith told reporters after court. "But, at the time, they had a reasonable belief he was involved, based on the evidence and his own statements."

Fox confessed that he accidentally bumped Riley's head on the bathroom door but panicked and tried to make it look like an abduction. Fox testified this week he agreed to the story only because detectives told him he'd be freed on lesser involuntary manslaughter charges. So, Fox said he took the deal out of desperation and planned to later clear his name.

His attorney, Kathleen Zellner, alleges police targeted Kevin Fox from the onset despite leads that suggested an unknown sexual predator abducted, raped and killed Riley. She called experts to debunk the lie-detector test's reliability and explain false confessions.

On cross examination, Fox acknowledged phone records that show he didn't talk to police until 40 minutes after realizing Riley was missing. Fox explained, though, he thought she was playing a game, such as hide-and-seek.

To prove damages, Zellner must show that the couple's reputation was tarnished. Smith suggests they sought out much of the publicity.

"My name was just smeared in the dirt," Fox responded. "Wouldn't you do the same?"