Whenever,
the death penalty gets abolished in any state, Pro Criminal rights activist
will target life without parole next. Whenever the Anti-Death Penalty activists
claim that life without parole means the killer will die behind bars, they
actually lied. I cannot think of an Anti Death Penalty personnel that is protesting
his release…. Suspicious though!
One
great example, is Thomas Kokoraleis, one of the members of the Ripper Crew. After a series of trials, Thomas
Kokoraleis was convicted of murder but only sentenced to life imprisonment as
his reward for his initial confession. Since then his life sentence has been
commuted and he was scheduled to be released on September 29, 2017, but his
parole was denied by Illinois officials. He was released on parole the morning
of March 29, 2019.
 |
This undated photo
provided by the Illinois Department of Corrections shows Thomas Kokoraleis.
Illinois authorities refused Friday, Sept. 29, 2017, to release Kokoraleis, a
parole-eligible convicted murderer who is suspected of being part of the
notorious "Ripper Crew" that brutally killed as many as 20 women in
the 1980s, determining that he lacks an approved place to live. Kokoraleis was
scheduled to be released on parole after serving 35 years in prison for the
1982 slaying of a suburban Chicago woman. (Photo: AP)
|
Chicago-area satanic
'Ripper Crew' murderer Thomas Kokoraleis paroled after 37 years in prison
Doug Stanglin and Aamer Madhani, USA TODAY
Published 10:20 a.m. ET March 29, 2019 | Updated 10:21 a.m. ET March 29, 2019
CHICAGO — A member of the infamous satanic gang
known as the Ripper Crew that kidnapped, raped, mutilated and murdered as many
as 20 women in the Chicago area in the early 1980s was released from an
Illinois prison on Friday.
Thomas Kokoraleis, 58, spent 35 years in prison for
his part in the slaying of 21-year-old Lorry Ann Borowski, a real estate office
receptionist who was snatched by the sadistic gang outside her workplace in
1982 before being raped, mutilated and murdered.
An alert from Illinois’ victim notification system
announced his discharge Friday from the Illinois Department of Corrections. He
was being held at the Illinois River Correctional Center in Canton, about 30
miles west of Peoria.
Kokoraleis will have to register with police as a
convict wherever he lives within three days. His information will be also
publicly disclosed on Illinois’ sex offender registry.
Attorney Gloria Allred and the family of a woman
murdered by Kokoraleis planned to hold a news conference later Friday to speak
out about his release.
Kokoraleis’ discharge, initially scheduled two
years ago, was delayed because he hadn't found a place to live while on parole
— a condition of his release.
Prosecutors said that Kokoraleis and his three
accomplices stalked the women they picked for their macabre ritual killings in
Chicago and nearby suburbs — torturing their victims and cutting off their
breasts before ultimately murdering them using knives and axes.
Kokoraleis was initially sentenced to life in
prison but the original conviction was overturned due to legal error. He later
pleaded guilty to Borowski’s murder and was re-sentenced to 70 years in prison.
Guidelines in Illinois at the time of his sentencing rewarded inmates, even
violent felons, for good behavior and that led to his prison time being cut in
half.
Authorities said that Kokoraleis, along with his
older brother Andrew, Edward Spreitzer, and the ringleader of the group Robin
Gecht targeted women in the Chicagoland area between May 1981 and September
1982.
The men abducted, sexually abused and mutilated the
women and used parts of their bodies in satanic rituals, prosecutors alleged
during the trial. Several of the victims were found with one or both breasts
severed, prosecutors said.
The four were charged with abducting Borowski
outside the real estate office in west suburban Elmhurst where she worked. Her
remains were found five months later in a cemetery just a few miles away from
where she had been abducted.
Prosecutors say Kokoraleis told investigators that
the attic of Gecht's home was the scene of gruesome rituals that included
cannibalism. The men were all employed by Gecht, who was an electrical
contractor and handyman.
During Kokoraleis' trial, jurors heard an audio
recording of him confessing to his role in the Borowski slaying and that of
another victim, Linda Sutton. Prosecutors later dropped the charges against
Kokoraleis for Sutton’s murder as part of the plea deal that led to the 70-year
sentence.
He later said that he made up certain aspects of
his confession — which he said was coerced by police — and only admitted to
being present during the attacks.
Andrew Kokoraleis was executed by lethal injection
in 1999, the last Death Row inmate in Illinois to be executed before the
state’s death penalty was abolished in 2011.
Spreitzer was originally sentenced to death, before
former Gov. George Ryan in 2003 commuted his — and other Illinois Death Row
inmate sentences — to life terms. Ryan was governor at the time of the elder
Kokoraleis’s execution and later said he regretted not stopping it.
Gecht was the only one in the gang who did not
confess to the killings. He was convicted for the rape and mutilation of a
teenage prostitute who survived the assault and provided investigators with
descriptions that helped lead investigators to the men.
He was sentenced to 120 years in prison and is
eligible for parole in 2042.
Madhani reports from Chicago; Stanglin from Mclean,
Virginia.
INTERNET SOURCE:
 |
Mugshots; left to right:
Gecht, Spreitzer, Andrew, and Thomas
|
Ripper Crew victim’s
family speaks out days before 21-year-old’s killer released
POSTED 9:05 PM, MARCH 25, 2019, BY JULIE UNRUH AND
MELISSA ESPANA, UPDATED AT 10:26PM, MARCH 25, 2019
ELMHURST, Ill. — A member of a satanic cult, whose
members were accused of rape, torture and murder, will be released Friday after
serving half of his prison sentence. The mother of a 21-year-old victim said
she thought he would be in prison until she died, but after less than 40 years,
her daughter's killer will be released.
The Elmhurst Police Department announced on
Facebook earlier this month that Thomas Kokoraleis, 59, will be released from
the Illinois River Correctional Center on Friday, after serving half of his
70-year prison sentence for the abduction, rape and murder of 21-year-old
Lorraine “Lorry” Ann Borowski.
Lorraine Borowski, 83, Lorry Borowski’s mother,
said she lived in fear for decades after her daughter was kidnapped in Elmhurst
nearly 40 years ago. Lorry Borowski was kidnapped outside the real estate
office where she worked. She was then tortured, raped and murdered in May 1982.
Police believe Kokoraleis and his brothers, plus
two other men, were responsible for the murder of up to 20 women during the
1980s.
“They thought they were all insane and I
said, 'How could four guys be insane at the same time and they hung around
together?' That don’t mean they are insane. They’re just evil. Evil,” Lorraine
Borowski said.
Kokoraleis, who was a teen at the time of the
murder, was charged with Lorry Borowski’s death. Initially he received a life
sentence for her rape and murder, but an appellate court later reversed the
rape conviction and re-sentenced him to 70 years behind bars. After he
confessed to the murder, the law at the time stated he would have to serve only
half of that time.
Lorraine Borowski said she's still upset, but she
forgave him, because she had to. While she preaches forgiveness toward her
daughter's killer, her sons Mark and Ray Borowski struggle to do the same.
Their sister would have been 59 this year.
"It's disturbing, because it's not
just us. There are other families that this affects. Not just us," Mark
Borowski said. "It gets easier. You just work through
it day by day. Just go on with your life, that's all."
"He took something that was very
close to me," Ray Borowski said, "I
live it everyday of my life. I'll never forget it. It is just like yesterday to
me. I was the first one there on the scene.”
The family has previously fought against
Kokoraleis' release. Even pressure from nationally known victim's rights
attorney Gloria Allred was not enough to stop his release.
Kokoraleis' brother, Andrew Kokoraleis, received
the death penalty and was executed by lethal injection in 1999 before it was
abolished in Illinois. Two other men connected to the murders are still behind
bars, with one eligible for parole in 2042.
Due to Illinois sentencing laws at the time,
Kokoraleis was eligible for day-to-day credit for good behavior.
The Kokoraleis brothers and the two other men were
part of the satanic cult group known as the “Ripper Crew.” According to the
Chicago Tribune, the group was known to stalk the streets of Chicago, and the
suburbs, in a red van looking for women to kidnap, beat, rape, torture and
kill. The Tribune said the group members would cut off their victims’ breasts
as part of a cannibalistic ritual.
There was never any evidence that Kokoraleis
suffered from mental health disorders, therefore he will be free to live or
travel wherever he wishes. His only limitation is that he must register as a
sex offender with the Illinois State Police.
When Kokoraleis gets released, he will already have
completed his parole.
Ray Borowksi said he hopes that people around him
will be aware that he's out there, and will keep an eye on him and hopefully
keep him in check.
INTERNET SOURCE:
 |
Karl Marx chose hell
[PHOTO SOURCE: https://image.slidesharecdn.com/theheartsoulofkarlmarx-160330143327/95/the-heart-soul-of-karl-marx-27-638.jpg?cb=1481274847]
|
Editorial:
Member of savage Ripper Crew released: When a life sentence doesn't mean life
The members of the Ripper Crew, from left, Robin
Gecht, Andrew Kokoraleis, Thomas Kokoraleis and Edward Spreitzer, killed as
many as 17 women. (Chicago Police Department)
Editorial Board
Editorials reflect the opinion of the Editorial Board, as determined by the members of the board, the editorial page editor and the publisher.
When then-Gov. Bruce Rauner called for restoration of the death penalty for mass murderers and murderers of police last year, his proposal went nowhere. No one has been executed by the state since 1999, and capital punishment was abolished in 2011, largely because wrongful convictions had eroded public support for it.
In a 2010 survey, just 1 in 3 Illinoisans thought
it should be kept. Nationally, 54 percent of Americans support the death
penalty, a Pew Research Center poll found last year — a figure well below what
it was two decades ago.
But the question assumes that there is a surefire
alternative to putting certain criminals to death — namely, locking them up and
throwing away the key. In that 2010 Illinois poll, 43 percent of those surveyed
said the punishment for murder should be life imprisonment with no chance of
parole plus payment of restitution to the victim’s family. Another 18 percent
were content with just life in prison with no chance of parole.
The problem is that you can’t count on a life
sentence to be a life sentence. The last person put to death in Illinois was
Andrew Kokoraleis, a member of the “Ripper Crew,” which carried out the
sadistic rape and killing of as many as 17 women, some of whom were mutilated
alive. The exact number is not known because the killers couldn’t remember them
all.
One of Andrew Kokoraleis’ confederates was his
brother Thomas, who admitted being present at three slayings. He was convicted
by a jury of the rape and murder of 21-year-old Lorry Ann Borowski of Elmhurst.
A judge chose to sentence him to life in prison.
But his conviction was struck down over legal errors, and the case was resolved
with the defendant pleading guilty and being sentenced to 70 years. Thanks to
the rules in effect back then, which allowed him to cut his time in half
through good behavior, Kokoraleis was released Friday at age 58. He is expected
to live at a Christian-oriented facility in the Wheaton area.
Another member of the crew, Edward Spreitzer, who
had his death sentence commuted by Gov. George Ryan in 2003 along with those of
all the other inmates on death row, is not eligible for parole. But Robin Gecht
could go free in 2042 at age 89.
We won’t relitigate Thomas Kokoraleis’ case or his
guilt. But we feel no hesitation in saying that life behind bars should have
been the certain sentence for what he did. There is something profoundly
exasperating about seeing someone who took part in such wanton slaughter being
allowed to walk free among civilized people.
If you wonder why a majority of Americans continue
to support capital punishment, cases like that of the Ripper Crew explain why: The
death penalty has many flaws, which is why this page opposes it. But it does
bring finality.
INTERNET SOURCE: https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/editorials/ct-edit-ripper-kokoraleis-murder-free-20190329-story.html
