On
this date, March 16, 1999, Andrew Kokoraleis, one of the members of the Ripper
Crew was executed by lethal injection in Illinois. He was the last man executed
in that State. I will post information about him from Wikipedia and some other
news sources before giving my comments.
Background information
|
|
Also known as
|
The
Chicago Rippers
The Ripper Crew |
Born
|
United
States
|
Penalty
|
120
years in prison (R.G.)
death date penalty (E.S., commuted to life; A.K., executed) life imprisonment (T.K.) |
Killings
|
|
Number
of victims
|
18
|
Country
|
United
States
|
State(s)
|
Illinois
|
Date apprehended
|
November
5, 1982
|
Andrew Kokoraleis
|
Ripper Crew
or Chicago Rippers was a satanic cult and organized crime group composed
of Robin Gecht (who once worked for the serial killer John Wayne Gacy) and
three associates (Edward Spreitzer with brothers Andrew and Thomas Kokoraleis).
They were suspected in the disappearances of 18 women in Chicago, Illinois in
1981 and '82. Gecht and his gang allegedly drove around in a van looking for prostitutes
to sacrifice in Gecht's apartment. They claimed to have removed one breast from
each victim and eaten it as Gecht read passages of The
Satanic Bible. It has also been said that they, after severing the
breast, took turns raping the open wound. They then proceeded to each masturbate
into the flesh of the breast, chop it into pieces, and devour it.
These
men were arrested in 1982 for the stabbing of a teenaged prostitute. Although
Gecht's associates and other witnesses implicated him in some of the deaths,
investigators never had enough evidence to charge him with murder. Gecht is
serving 120 years in Menard Correctional Center for mutilating and raping an
18-year-old prostitute.
Edward
Spreitzer and Andrew Kokoraleis were sentenced to death. On March 16, 1999,
35-year-old Kokoraleis was executed by lethal injection at Tamms Correctional
Center in Southern Illinois for the 1982 strangulation murder of Lorraine
Borowski, a 21-year-old secretary at a real estate office who had been abducted
on her way to work. Her mutilated body was found in a cemetery.
Defense
attorneys unsuccessfully argued that Kokoraleis was coerced into confessing.
They also argued that new information cast doubt on the credibility of
confessions by two co-defendants who accused him. Andrew, who had been
sentenced to life in prison for the murder of Rose Beck Davis, was the first prisoner
executed at a new super-maximum-security prison in southern Illinois.
Thomas
Kokoraleis was convicted of Lorraine Borowski's murder and received a life
sentence. His life sentence was later commuted and he is now scheduled to be
released on September 30, 2017; he is currently in Illinois River Correctional
Center.
On
March 7, 1999, Robin Gecht's son David and three others were charged with
first-degree murder in connection with a shooting death which police believe to
be gang-related.
Edward
Spreitzer's death sentence was commuted in George H. Ryan's last-minute
commutation of all death sentences in Illinois in 2003. Incidentally, Andrew
Kokoraleis' was Governor Ryan's only execution, just over two months into his
administration. Kokoraleis was also the last inmate executed in Illinois,
almost 12 years before Governor Pat Quinn signed legislation to abolish the
death penalty on March 9, 2011, and commuted 15 death sentences to life
imprisonment without parole.
Robin Gecht | |
---|---|
Background information | |
Birth name | Robin Gecht |
Born | 1953 (age 59–60) Menard, Illinois |
Edward Spreitzer |
|||
---|---|---|---|
Background information | |||
Birth name | Edward Spreitzer | ||
Born | 1958 (age 54–55) IL |
Andrew Kokoraleis |
|||
---|---|---|---|
Background information | |||
Birth name | Andrew Kokoraleis | ||
Born | 1961 | ||
Died | March 16, 1999 (aged 37–38) | ||
Cause of death | Execution by lethal injection |
Thomas Kokoraleis |
|||
---|---|---|---|
Background information | |||
Birth name | Thomas Kokoraleis | ||
Born | 1958 (age 54–55) IL |
LINKS:
I wished that there was a joint enterprise law and most likely, either only
one of the gang members will kill (as they will most likely be afraid to all
die) or the whole gang might had dispersed.
It was a morbid compassion that Governor George Ryan spared all the death
row inmates. Many are glad that the innocent death row inmates were found, but
to spare the lives of the guilty was a fatal mistake. Apart from Andrew Kokoraleis,
the other three members of the Ripper Crew were allowed to keep their lives. I
wonder if those abolitionists will keep silent over the case of the Ripper
Crew.
Please go to this blog post to hear from the victim’s father.
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