'I hoped this day would never come': Lorry's family 'shaken' as killer is released
Lorraine Ann "Lorry" Borowski's family members say they are now forced to spend the rest of their lives looking over their shoulders after one of the four men convicted in the rape and murder of the 21-year-old Elmhurst woman in May 1982 was released from prison.
Lorry's younger brother, Mark Borowski, said he and his mother each received a phone call around 6:20 a.m. Friday letting them know convicted killer Thomas Kokoraleis had been released from the Illinois River Correctional Center about 40 miles southwest of Peoria.
"I'm shaking at the thought that this murderer is walking free among us and without any legal restrictions," said Mark Borowski, who was 12 when his sister was murdered.
"It makes me feel sick to my stomach to know my mother and I will constantly need to look over our shoulder and be concerned about anyone who may resemble Thomas Kokoraleis. I hoped this day would never come."
Mark Borowski, along with his mother, Lorraine, and Lorry's best friend, Liz Suriano, gathered in Rosemont on Friday with attorney Gloria Allred to call on Illinois lawmakers to create "Lorry Ann's Law."
The proposed law, Allred said, would be an amended version of the Illinois Sex Offender Registration Act with a new provision ordering offenders not to have contact with their victims. It also would allow victims' family members to request a no-contact order.
"Isn't it enough that Lorry Ann was kidnapped, raped, tortured, had her left breast amputated by the satanic cult, probably while she was still alive, suffered more than 20 ice pick wounds to her body and was murdered?" Allred said. "Now her murderer is set free and the law does not even require that her murderer be required to stay away from her family, who has suffered and will continue to suffer more than anyone will be able to know."
DuPage County State's Attorney Robert Berlin, contacted after the news conference, said the proposal "certainly sounds like good policy."
"It's definitely something I'll be talking to our legislators about," Berlin said.
Andrew Kokoraleis, Thomas' brother, was convicted of the murders of Lorry and Rose Davis and was sentenced to death. He was the last Illinois inmate executed by chemical injection in 1999 before the death penalty was abolished.
Thomas Kokoraleis was convicted of Borowski's 1982 murder based on an accountability theory, which means he was held accountable for the acts committed by other individuals - Andrew Kokoraleis and Edward Spreitzer - that resulted in her death.
Thomas Kokoraleis admitted to participating in Borowski's abduction as she arrived to open a real estate office near the intersection of St. Charles Road and Route 83. He denied he was involved in her rape and murder but admitted he was present while his brother and Spreitzer killed her.
Thomas Kokoraleis first was sentenced to life in prison for the murder. But DuPage County prosecutors allowed him to plead guilty in July 1987 in exchange for a 70-year prison term after he won a new trial because of legal errors.
As part of the deal, prosecutors dropped charges against Kokoraleis involving the death of another woman who is thought to be the first victim of the so-called Ripper Crew that terrorized Chicago and the suburbs in the early 1980s. Linda Sutton, 26, was found outside a Villa Park motel in 1981.
Based on Illinois laws in effect at that time, Thomas Kokoraleis served half his sentence and was scheduled to enter mandatory supervised release in September 2017.
His release was delayed until Friday, however, because he did not find a home that complied with Illinois' convicted sex-offender residency conditions.
"I'm very disturbed that my daughter's murderer was released today. I'm afraid for my family and my community," said Lorry's mother, Lorraine. "I will never understand how the man who was convicted of ... murdering my daughter could be walking free in Illinois today."
As of Friday afternoon, local law enforcement officials said Kokoraleis was believed to he headed to the "Wheaton area," but no one knew his planned destination. He has until Monday morning to alert local law enforcement officials of his whereabouts and register as a sex offender.
Wheaton police released a statement Friday evening saying Kokoraleis "has not registered with the Wheaton Police Department and has not contacted the police department indicating he plans on registering."
Kokoraleis was not convicted of a sex crime and is not considered a convicted sex offender. But Berlin said Friday that state law requires him to register, as long as he resides in Illinois, because the murder was determined to have been "sexually motivated." Kokoraleis also will not be subject to typical sex offender rules, including boundary restrictions near school and parks.
"He's completed his sentence," Berlin said. "He can live wherever he chooses, so long as he registers with local law enforcement within three days."
Spreitzer was convicted of the murders of Linda Sutton, Shui Mak, Rose Davis, Sandra Delaware and Raphael Tiradao and is serving a life sentence with no possibility of parole. He originally was sentenced to die, but then-Gov. George Ryan in 2003 commuted all death sentences in Illinois.
Another member of the group, Robin Gecht, who was believed to be the leader, was convicted of the attempted murder, rape, aggravated kidnapping and deviate sexual assault of a woman and is not eligible for parole until 2042.