Convicted killer wants new DNA tests
A former Fox Lake police officer serving life in prison for his ex-girlfriend's murder claims in court documents filed this week that a new round of DNA testing could clear his name.
John Cumbee, 47, is asking a McHenry County judge to order an independent examination of blood and hair found on the body of murder victim Kathleen Twarowksi as well as on a broom taken from his home after her slaying.
Cumbee claims the evidence was not properly investigated by state authorities after the May 1992 murder.
"The new technology today will provide evidence that (I) didn't commit these horrific crimes," Cumbee writes.
The request for new DNA testing was filed this week along with a 182-page petition for a new trial on first-degree murder charges.
The request, written by Cumbee from the Stateville Correctional Center, claims his constitutional rights were violated by lying police officers and lazy defense lawyers.
Cumbee alleges detectives investigating Twarowski's murder misled the grand jury that indicted him and perjured themselves during his two trials, both of which ended in guilty verdicts.
He also claims his defense lawyer at his second trial refused to allow him to take the witness stand in his own defense because he did not want to spend a weekend preparing for his testimony.
Nichole Owens, criminal chief for the McHenry County state's attorney, called Cumbee's filings frivolous and said he does not deserve a hearing on his claims.
"There are no reasonable grounds for his petition to proceed," she said.
Cumbee was found guilty in 2003 of killing Twarowski, a 21-year-old Oakton Community College student from Spring Grove, during a what authorities called a jealous rage caused when she ended their relationship.
Authorities said Cumbee beat Twarowski to death with a fire poker in his Lake County home, placed her in her vehicle and drove it across the McHenry County line, where a passer-by found it the next day.
McHenry County Judge Sharon Prather will hear Cumbee's petition beginning Sept. 21.