STORY: "Judge vacates conviction of Naperville man for '95 arson murder of mother-in-law," by freelance reporter Clifford Ward, published by The Chicago Tribune (Napierville Sun) on April 6, 2017.
GIST: "A DuPage County judge on Thursday morning vacated the
conviction of a man found guilty two decades ago of the arson murder of
his mother-in-law in Naperville. William Amor, 60, has
been serving a 45-year prison term for the 1995 murder of Marianne
Miceli, who died in a fire at the Naperville condominium she shared with
Amor and her daughter. Amor was married to Miceli's daughter. Amor, who is scheduled to be released from prison in 2018,
had successfully petitioned for a hearing to present evidence that his
murder conviction was based on outmoded fire investigation evidence. His
attorneys argued that advances in arson investigation techniques and
science undermine the conclusions investigators reached in the
mid-1990s, including that Amor started the fire using a cigarette and a
vodka-soaked newspaper. The conviction was vacated by
Judge Liam Brennan, who had presided over a hearing late last year and
early this year. The ruling does not set Amor free. He remains charged
with the crime. A hearing is scheduled for April 13, at which time
Amor's lawyer will seek a bond reduction..........At trial, his attorneys argued that abusive, coercive questioning by
Naperville police, who during one session served Amor with divorce
papers filed by his wife, resulted in a false confession. A
jury, though, found him guilty in 1997. Amor filed an ultimately
unsuccessful post-conviction petition in the early 2000s, and his case
was dormant until the Illinois Innocence Project took it on in 2014.
Innocence Project attorneys convinced a judge that errors in the
original fire investigation were significant enough that Amor should be
granted a new hearing on that evidence."
The entire story can be found at:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/naperville-sun/ct-naperville-arson-hearing-0407-20170406-story.html
See related CBS story at the link below for the false confession: "The attorneys representing William Amor said it is likely that no one set the fire that killed Amor’s mother-in-law, Marianne Miceli, as Amor and his wife were at a drive-in movie. A confession exists, and is the only evidence implicating Amor, but Illinois Innocence Project legal director Lauren Kaeseberg said it is clearly false. WBBM’s Bob Roberts reports. “Our belief, after looking at this evidence for years, and analyzing every factor, is that this was an accidental fire,” Kaeseberg said. The confession states that Amor set fire using vodka-soaked newspapers and a lit cigarette. Kaeseberg said experts today say that is impossible. Amor had been jailed for two weeks, had been questioned by detectives for 15 hours and had just been served with divorce papers when he signed the confession, which he has denied ever since. Amor has served 22 years of a 45 year sentence. Kaeseberg said she believes that this is the first case in which reinterpretation of fire evidence has led to such a court order in Illinois. A hearing is set at 9:30 a.m. next Thursday, April 13 at the DuPage County courthouse, at which time prosecutors will say whether they will seek to retry him or drop the charges."
http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2017/04/06/naperville-1997-murder-conviction/
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at: http://www.thestar.com/topic/
http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/naperville-sun/ct-naperville-arson-hearing-0407-20170406-story.html
See related CBS story at the link below for the false confession: "The attorneys representing William Amor said it is likely that no one set the fire that killed Amor’s mother-in-law, Marianne Miceli, as Amor and his wife were at a drive-in movie. A confession exists, and is the only evidence implicating Amor, but Illinois Innocence Project legal director Lauren Kaeseberg said it is clearly false. WBBM’s Bob Roberts reports. “Our belief, after looking at this evidence for years, and analyzing every factor, is that this was an accidental fire,” Kaeseberg said. The confession states that Amor set fire using vodka-soaked newspapers and a lit cigarette. Kaeseberg said experts today say that is impossible. Amor had been jailed for two weeks, had been questioned by detectives for 15 hours and had just been served with divorce papers when he signed the confession, which he has denied ever since. Amor has served 22 years of a 45 year sentence. Kaeseberg said she believes that this is the first case in which reinterpretation of fire evidence has led to such a court order in Illinois. A hearing is set at 9:30 a.m. next Thursday, April 13 at the DuPage County courthouse, at which time prosecutors will say whether they will seek to retry him or drop the charges."
http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2017/04/06/naperville-1997-murder-conviction/
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at: http://www.thestar.com/topic/
