he found his girlfriend sprawled in a pool of blood, a rug covering her and a knife sticking out of her chest. McCarthy called the Frankfort police. When they arrived and saw Chinn’s slain body, the man standing in the parking lot—McCarthy—began to look to them very much like the killer.
That night McCarthy was taken to the Frankfort police station, where officers confiscated his shoes. He was then ferried to the local state police headquarters, where he was interrogated into the morning and through the next night. Hardly recovered from the shock of finding his nine-year companion stabbed and covered in blood, he was questioned for more than twenty-four hours. Grueling and exhaustive as the interrogation was, police apparently didn’t uncover enough information to hold him for another night. He was released without being arrested.
Two months later, McCarthy was back at the local state police headquarters. This time, he was arrested and charged with the murder of Juliet Chinn. To be sure, McCarthy was a reasonable suspect. He and Chinn were romantically and professionally linked, and McCarthy was at the crime scene when police arrived. Not only that, but he had blood on his hands and pants, blood that would prove key to collaring him for the crime.
According to Glasgow, private forensics expert Dexter Bartlett opined that, based on the pattern of blood spattered on McCarthy, Chinn had aspirated that blood onto him, proving she was still alive when he was with her in the condo. Glasgow had his doubts and called in Tom Bevel, a former Oklahoma City police investigator and associate professor of forensic science, to review Bartlett’s findings.
Bevel did disagree with Bartlett. The spatter, he said, could have resulted from a part of Chinn’s body, perhaps her hand, falling in a puddle of blood and splashing McCarthy when he moved her to see if she was still alive. Effectively, Bevel was saying the state police had jailed an innocent man.
More than a year after McCarthy was arrested, the charges against him were dropped during a routine hearing. But despite Bevel’s testimony and the dismissed charges, McCarthy knew that many people still thought he had murdered Chinn. The word of the police, he discovered, carries a lot of weight.
“You work with people for twenty years and the police come in and say, ‘You killed someone,’ and they believe them,” McCarthy said, “because there’s so much faith in the police, and it’s undeserved.
“People don’t know how to do their jobs,” he said. “That’s the problem.”
Glasgow said state police investigators were upset with him for clearing McCarthy. The Frankfort police chief at the time, Darrell Sanders, who drove McCarthy back to his car after his twenty-four-hour interrogation by state police, said, “As far as I’m concerned, the case was closed, and the proper person was arrested.”
About seven years passed after McCarthy’s exoneration, and the police remained hesitant to accept McCarthy’s acquittal. Then came further, even more convincing evidence that he was innocent: Someone else confessed to killing Chinn.
That person was fifty-two-year-old Anthony Brescia, who was in prison for the murder of a man in Palos Park, about thirteen miles north of Frankfort, four months after Chinn’s murder. According to a press release put out by Glasgow’s office, Brescia told Illinois Department of Corrections workers that he had killed Chinn as well. Even though the Palos Park murder took place soon after Chinn’s in a nearby town during another daytime robbery, before his confession Anthony Brescia had never been considered in connection with Chinn’s slaying.
In fact, Brescia’s confession was something of a fluke. His mother died shortly before he came clean, according to Glasgow. Brescia had the blood of one victim on his hands, but he did not want his mom knowing he had killed another person, Glasgow said.
Brescia had another motive for owning
That night McCarthy was taken to the Frankfort police station, where officers confiscated his shoes. He was then ferried to the local state police headquarters, where he was interrogated into the morning and through the next night. Hardly recovered from the shock of finding his nine-year companion stabbed and covered in blood, he was questioned for more than twenty-four hours. Grueling and exhaustive as the interrogation was, police apparently didn’t uncover enough information to hold him for another night. He was released without being arrested.
Two months later, McCarthy was back at the local state police headquarters. This time, he was arrested and charged with the murder of Juliet Chinn. To be sure, McCarthy was a reasonable suspect. He and Chinn were romantically and professionally linked, and McCarthy was at the crime scene when police arrived. Not only that, but he had blood on his hands and pants, blood that would prove key to collaring him for the crime.
According to Glasgow, private forensics expert Dexter Bartlett opined that, based on the pattern of blood spattered on McCarthy, Chinn had aspirated that blood onto him, proving she was still alive when he was with her in the condo. Glasgow had his doubts and called in Tom Bevel, a former Oklahoma City police investigator and associate professor of forensic science, to review Bartlett’s findings.
Bevel did disagree with Bartlett. The spatter, he said, could have resulted from a part of Chinn’s body, perhaps her hand, falling in a puddle of blood and splashing McCarthy when he moved her to see if she was still alive. Effectively, Bevel was saying the state police had jailed an innocent man.
More than a year after McCarthy was arrested, the charges against him were dropped during a routine hearing. But despite Bevel’s testimony and the dismissed charges, McCarthy knew that many people still thought he had murdered Chinn. The word of the police, he discovered, carries a lot of weight.
“You work with people for twenty years and the police come in and say, ‘You killed someone,’ and they believe them,” McCarthy said, “because there’s so much faith in the police, and it’s undeserved.
“People don’t know how to do their jobs,” he said. “That’s the problem.”
Glasgow said state police investigators were upset with him for clearing McCarthy. The Frankfort police chief at the time, Darrell Sanders, who drove McCarthy back to his car after his twenty-four-hour interrogation by state police, said, “As far as I’m concerned, the case was closed, and the proper person was arrested.”
About seven years passed after McCarthy’s exoneration, and the police remained hesitant to accept McCarthy’s acquittal. Then came further, even more convincing evidence that he was innocent: Someone else confessed to killing Chinn.
That person was fifty-two-year-old Anthony Brescia, who was in prison for the murder of a man in Palos Park, about thirteen miles north of Frankfort, four months after Chinn’s murder. According to a press release put out by Glasgow’s office, Brescia told Illinois Department of Corrections workers that he had killed Chinn as well. Even though the Palos Park murder took place soon after Chinn’s in a nearby town during another daytime robbery, before his confession Anthony Brescia had never been considered in connection with Chinn’s slaying.
In fact, Brescia’s confession was something of a fluke. His mother died shortly before he came clean, according to Glasgow. Brescia had the blood of one victim on his hands, but he did not want his mom knowing he had killed another person, Glasgow said.
Brescia had another motive for owning
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