Pardoned man's lawsuit to go to trial
Pardoned death-row inmate Gary Gauger's lawsuit claiming three former McHenry County Sheriff's detectives framed him for his parents' murders can proceed to trial, a judge ruled Tuesday.
McHenry County Judge Maureen McIntyre rejected the detectives' arguments they had probable cause to arrest Gauger for the killings in April 1993, finding instead that that is a matter for a jury to decide.
The decision moves a step closer to trial Gauger's nearly five-year-old lawsuit against former detectives Beverly Hendle, Gene Lowery and Christopher Pandre for helping put him on death row for a murder he says he did not commit. Hendle and Pandre have since retired from the sheriff's department while Lowery is the agency's undersheriff, second-in-command behind Sheriff Keith Nygren.
Gauger, of Richmond, is seeking an undisclosed sum from the detectives, as well as the county, claiming they conspired against him by falsely claiming he had confessed to the killings and misleading prosecutors about the strength of the case against him.
At issue Tuesday was whether the detectives had the legal authority to arrest Gauger after his parents, Ruth and Morris Gauger, were found slain on the family's Richmond-area farm April 8, 1993, each slashed across the throat and left to bleed to death.
If a court or jury rules the detectives had probable cause, it could be a severe setback to Gauger's attempts to show that he was falsely arrested and prosecuted.
The detectives' attorney, James Sotos, said incriminating statements made by Gauger after the murders, combined with evidence the slayings occurred without a break-in or violent struggle, justified the arrest.
"All of the evidence pointed to Gary Gauger and not a single other soul," Sotos said. "It appeared the victims must have known their assailant and (Gauger) told them that he killed his parents."
Gauger, however, disputes claims he made any incriminating statements during the 18 hours detectives questioned him after his parents were found murdered. Although he admits describing how he could have killed his parents, Gauger said he only was offering a hypothetical after detectives told him, erroneously, they had physical evidence linking him to the slayings.
Authorities called the statements a confession, and made it a centerpiece of their case as Gauger was tried, convicted and sentenced to death row for the murders.
Less than two years later, federal authorities investigating the Outlaws motorcycle gang uncovered evidence linking two bikers to the murders of Morris, 74, and Ruth, 70, Gauger. Both men have since been convicted of charges related to the slayings.
Gauger was released from prison in 1996 and, six years later, then-Gov. George Ryan issued Gauger a pardon.
Gauger's attorney Thomas J. Henehan said Tuesday that the detectives knew Gauger had not confessed, but they proceeded anyhow with no other evidence connecting him to the crime.
"It's not permissible from a law enforcement perspective to say we don't have evidence against anyone else, so it's got to be him," Henehan said. "When you put it all together, this is not the stuff of charging someone with murder."