Anthony Porter, Exoneree Whose Case Spurred Abolition of Death Penalty in Illinois, Has Died
Anthony Porter, an Illinois death-row exoneree whose case sparked a chain of events that ultimately led the state to abolish the death penalty, has died. He was 66 years old. In 1983, Porter was convicted and sentenced to death of the murder of two teenagers in a southside Chicago park. No physical evidence linked him to the murders, but after more than 17 hours of coercive interrogation, another man, William Taylor, told police that he had seen Porter commit the murders. Porter came within 50 hours of execution in September 1998, when the Illinois Supreme Court, concerned that Porter was m...
Source: deathpenaltyinfo.org