Judge orders release of accused Chicago cop killer while he awaits new trial

CHICAGO — An Illinois judge on Friday ordered the release of a 57-year-old man awaiting a new trial who spent the last 36 years in prison for his alleged involvement in the murders of two Chicago cops.

Jackie Wilson, who was first convicted in 1982 for his role in the murders of officers Richard O’Brien and William Fahey during a traffic stop, alleges his confession was coerced when he was tortured by members of the “Midnight Crew” of disgraced former police commander Jon Burge.

The move by Judge William Hooks to release Wilson on his own recognizance comes a week after he granted Wilson a new trial. Hooks ruled that the confession that was used to prosecute Wilson at two earlier trials was coerced through torture and tossed the evidence.

“In the totality of circumstances, this court does not find Wilson to be a danger to the community or a flight risk. The state has failed to provide just and proper cause for Mr. Wilson’s continued incarceration as a pretrial condition while the retrial of the case is pending,” Hooks said during Friday's hearing. “Accordingly, Mr. Wilson is ordered to be released forthwith.”

Kevin Graham, president of the Chicago police union, told reporters that the judge's ruling was "disgraceful."

From 1972 through 1991, more than 100 people alleged that police officers under Burge's command committed horrific abuses against them. The suspects were subjected to mock executions and electric shock and beaten with telephone books as their interrogators flung racial epithets at them. A Chicago Police Department review board ruled in 1993 that Burge's officers had used torture, and he was fired.

The statute of limitations ran out on his alleged crimes, but Burge was convicted in 2010 of committing perjury during a civil a civil trial for lying about torture he oversaw. He was sentenced to 4-1/2 years in prison and completed his sentence in 2015. Burge continues to receive a police pension.

Prosecutors argued Wilson, who they allege worked with his now-deceased brother, Andrew, to fatally shoot O'Brien and Fahey should be kept in custody.

Prosecutors told the judge they were unsure if any of the witnesses in Wilson’s two previous trials were still alive, but they have his late brother’s videotaped.

Wilson’s first conviction was tossed out after an appeals court ruled that he should not have been tried simultaneously with his brother. At his 1989 retrial, a jury acquitted him of Fahey’s murder but convicted him of O’Brien’s, and he was sentenced to life in prison.

Chicago has already spent about $100 million in paying out settlements to victims of Burge or Chicago cops connected to him. Burge and cops under his command have faced dozens of allegations of torturing and beating mostly African-American suspects.

WSBTV