Attorney General drops charges against 2 former Burge suspects

Two men will go free after spending nearly two decades in jail based on evidence gathered by detectives under the supervision of former Chicago Police Commander Jon Burge.

The Illinois Attorney General's office says prosecutors are dropping charges against 42-year-old Ronald Kitchen and 50-year-old Marvin Reeves. The two men were convicted of killing two women and three children in 1988.

Their case was based largely on Kitchen's confession, but he's long maintained that he was tortured into the admission. The men were granted a new trial, but Attorney General Lisa Madigan's deputy chief of staff says her office couldn't meet the burden of proof and justice required the men's release.

Burge is awaiting trial on charges of lying about torturing suspects.