State's Attorney Devine and U.S. Rep Mark Kirk Announce $1 Million Grant to Help Solve Murder Cases

State's Attorney Richard A. Devine announced today that nearly $1 million in federal grant
money, secured with the help of U.S. Representative Mark Kirk (R-Highland Park), will aid in
the crusade to reopen, investigate and prosecute unsolved murder cases in Cook County.

Currently the Cold Case Homicide Unit of the State's Attorney's Office investigates homicide
cases that have gone unsolved. In this unit, police and prosecutors work as a team from the
moment a case is reopened to the conclusion of the prosecution. Since it was created in 1999,
the Cold Case Unit has reopened and examined over 200 old homicide cases, securing convictions
in 35 cases.

"With this additional money we can continue to aggressively investigate murder cases despite the
passage of time," Devine said. "By doing so, we enhance the public's faith and confidence in the
criminal justice system and send a message to would-be killers that they will never be safe from
justice if they commit murder."

Over 100 suburban Cook County law enforcement agencies, in addition to the Chicago Police
Department, the Cook County Sheriff's Police and the Illinois State Police can enlist the aid of the
Cold Case Unit to help crack murder cases. In recent years, the Cold Case Unit has solved several
infamous cases in Cook County including:

The 1993 Brown's Chicken murders in Palatine, Illinois. Seven people staffing a fast food
restaurant were murdered shortly after closing time and were dumped in the restaurant's coolers.
Despite an intensive investigation, no one was charged with this crime until, after years of
investigation and updated DNA testing, two people were charged in 2002. This case is currently
pending.

The 1955 kidnapping and murders of the Peterson/Schuessler boys. After extensive efforts by the
Cold Case Unit , U.S. Department of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and the Chicago Police
Department, Kenneth Hansen was finally brought to justice in August 2002. He was convicted
after a jury trial and was sentenced to 200 to 300 years in prison.

In 1988 Michael Hughes stabbed Beata Lhee to death during a robbery in her Chicago Flower
shop. Hughes was tracked down after more advanced DNA testing and help from the Chicago
Police Department's Cold Case Unit showed he left his own blood in a hallway as he ran from
the building. Hughes, charged with this murder in 2004, was located in a Nevada prison serving a life sentence for other offenses. He confessed after being confronted with this new
evidence and received a life sentence for Lhee's murder in April 2005.

In September 2005, Casey Nowicki was sentenced to life in prison for the 1984 murder of
Mary Jo Andrews. The Cold Case Unit and Chicago Police Department secured a conviction
despite the fact that Andrew's body was never found.

In February 2006 the Cold Case Unit convicted David Kraybill for the 2003 murder of
Joel Cacharelis in Winnetka, Illinois. Kraybill drove from Madison, Wisconsin to Winnetka
where he lured the victim from his home and shot him 11 times in a secluded location.
There were no eyewitnesses, no murder weapon recovered and no confession. Approximately
one year later, after additional investigation by the Cold Case Unit and the Winnetka Police
Department, Kraybill was arrested and charged.

"We would like to thank the U.S. Department of Justice and Congressman Kirk for
recognizing the importance of solving these cases as it provides a sense of justice and closure
for grieving families who have given up hope of ever seeing an old case solved," said Devine.

Presently the Cold Case Homicide Unit is prosecuting 39 cases that were charged after a
successful investigation and has 89 open homicide investigations.

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