Former DuPage Co. chief judge dies

If authorities needed a search warrant in the early morning hours, former DuPage County Circuit Court Chief Judge Edward Kowal would make himself available.

"You could call on him for everything," said DuPage County State's Attorney Joe Birkett. "We could go to his house in the middle of the night and he would have coffee brewing for the officers, and his wife Mary Lou was there to treat and take care of us."

Kowal, a Glen Ellyn resident, died Tuesday at 85 after a lengthy battle with cancer and Parkinson's disease.

"I appeared before Judge Kowal a few times when I was in private practice and I always found him to be a knowledgeable judge and man of great dignity," said current DuPage Circuit Judge George Bakalis. "He knew how to manage a courtroom and was always respectful to people who appeared before him. He had great knowledge of the law and was a dedicated jurist."

Birkett said he argued several high-profile murder cases before Kowal and always found him "very fair."

"Defense lawyers and prosecutors alike had great respect for him," he said.

But perhaps Kowal's most notable trial was one that still haunts the county's legal community.

Kowal presided over the original trial of Rolando Cruz, Alejandro Hernandez and Stephen Buckley in 1985. They were wrongly accused of kidnapping, raping and killing 10-year-old Jeanine Nicarico of Naperville two years earlier. Cruz and Hernandez were convicted and Kowal sentenced the two to death. Buckley's case ended in a mistrial.

The Illinois Supreme Court overturned the convictions against Cruz and Hernandez, saying Kowal should have separated their trials and ordered the men to be retried. Much later, prosecutors and sheriff's detectives were accused of fabricating evidence in the case.

Kowal - as one of his last acts before retiring as chief judge in 1995 - appointed a special prosecutor to try the case against the accused authorities who would become known as the DuPage 7. The seven men were all eventually exonerated. However, the county settled a $3.5 million civil suit brought by Cruz, Hernandez and Buckley in 2000. Serial killer Brian Dugan was sentenced to death late last year for Jeanine's murder.

Kowal began his law career in 1951 after graduating from John Marshall Law School. He later attended Harvard University and The National Judicial College, according to his family. He served in the DuPage State's Attorney's office and eventually ascended to an associate judge's seat in 1974 where he served in every division of the court system. He was appointed to full circuit judge in 1984 and elected to the post two years later serving in criminal courts for the duration of his career. He was elected chief judge in 1993 and retired two years later.

But Kowal was also a decorated war veteran, having served in the Marines as a radio operator, navigator and rear gunner on attack missions over the Marshall Islands in the Pacific theatre during World War II.

He is survived by his wife Mary Lou, five children and eight grandchildren.

A memorial service is at 2 p.m. Monday, Feb. 1, at Grace United Methodist Church, 300 E. Gartner Road, Naperville.