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The Ford

Heights Four

Resource:https://www.scribd.com/document/310506312/Four-Heights-Four-case-summary

The Ford Heights Four were four men falsely accused of double murder of Lawrence Lionberg and Carol Schmal. The four men were Verneal Jimerson, Dennis Williams, Kenneth Adams and Willie Rainge. Dennis Willaims and Verneal Jimerson were sentenced to death. Willie Rainge and Kenneth Adams were sentenced to prison time.

Persons Involved

The crime occurred early morning of May 11th, 1978. Lawrence and Carol were abducted from a Clark oil company filling station, in the suburb of Homewood. May 12th, 1978, the bodies were found in a abandoned townhouse, East Chicago Heights(Ford Heights). Both had been shot and Carol was gang-raped.

Summary

A man named Charles McCraney gave a tip about the crime and led to the arrest of the four men. Also, said a witness was Paula Gray. Awhile later, they found out that the tip was false.

Leads

On May 16th, 1978, after being held for questioning for 2 days. She testified to the grand jury that she held a disposable cigarette lighter burning while the four men raped Carol seven times, after Williams shot both victims with a .38-caliber pistol. June 19th, Gray recanted her story, claiming her confession to the police and grand jury testimony had been coerced.

Paula's Story

Between Trials

Jimerson had been implicated and charges against him were dismissed. Gray was charged with murder and perjury. She was brought to the trial jointly with the remainging men Dennis Williams, Kenneth Adams and Willie Rainge.

The trial was conducted before two juries. The three men and Gray were convicted. The convictions were resting on three main witnesses.

McCrany who claimed to have saw them near he crime scene preceding the murders. Micheal Podlecki who is a crime laboratory forensic analyst. Who claimed to see three head hairs allegedly recovered from the back and the trunk of Williams car that matched the victims hair. David Jackson who is a informant who claimed to hear Williams and Rainge talking about the crime they committed in jail.

Trial

After the trial Williams was sentenced to death, Rainge to life in prison, Adams to 75 years in prison and Gray 50 years in prison. The convictions were affirmed on appeal. Williams and Rainge won new trials in 1982. The lawyer that represented them Archie B. Weston, who was also represented Gray. Prosecutors made a deal with Gray that if she testified against Williams and Rainge at the retrial, she would be released. Gray also testified against Jimerson, who was charged, convicted and sentenced to death in 1985. Two years later Williams and Rainge were convicted a second time. Willaims was sentenced to death and Rainge to life in prison. Eventually then were all exonerated because of DNA evidence.

After the Trial

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