IN THE NEWS

Chicago Tribune - June 17, 2005

DNA tests clear Kevin Fox of murder charges

Father jailed 8 months in 3-year-old's death

By Jo Napolitano and Deborah Horan
Tribune staff reporters

Charges were dropped today against Kevin Fox, accused of the sexual assault and murder of his 3-year-old daughter Riley, after prosecutors said DNA tests excluded him as a suspect in her death.

"This is an absolute exclusion of Kevin Fox," Will County State's Atty. James Glasgow said during an emergency court hearing this afternoon requested by prosecutors in the Joliet courthouse.

"We were shocked at the result" of the DNA tests, Glasgow acknowledged in a news conference that followed the court hearing.

"There was a statement made by Kevin Fox," the prosecutor said, defending law enforcement's decision until today to pursue first-degree murder and predatory criminal sexual assault charges against the 28-year-old Wilmington man.

Fox had given investigators an incriminating statement, Glasgow said, and, "There was other evidence that we had in our possession to corroborate the statement. Based on that, we had probable cause, and we had clearly a legal basis to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt.

"I was ready to proceed on the case, until 6 o'clock last night."

That's when results were returned from a battery of DNA tests.

"You'll be hearing from us in the civil rights case," Fox's attorney, Kathleen Zellner, said at a separate meeting with reporters.

Zellner referred to a federal lawsuit Fox filed last November. In it, he said investigators coerced him into giving the incriminating statement.

Glasgow and Will County Sheriff Paul Kaupas also cited the lawsuit when they declined to comment on allegations of police coercion during Fox's 14 ?-hour interrogation.

"One thing that is clear – a vicious sexual predator murdered Riley Fox last June, and we are making our No. 1 priority to reopen this case and aggressively investigate it with the Will County sheriff's department," Glasgow said.

Authorities are arranging for new DNA tests to see if they can find a match with registered criminal suspects as well as pursuing traditional investigative methods, the prosecutor said.

"There are a number of leads we are looking at, and we will aggressively follow them up," Glasgow said. "Limitation of manpower will not be an issue. We will assign whatever investigators are needed to solve this case."

Today's developments marked a repudiation of a case started under Glasgow's predecessor, Will County State's Atty. Jeff Tomczak. Tomczak had said he would seek the death penalty for Fox before he lost re-election to Glasgow in November.

They also were a vindication for Fox and his family and friends, who have stood by the man in proclaiming his innocence.

Dressed in a White Sox T-shirt, cap and jeans, Fox spoke to reporters after his release from jail this afternoon. His wife Melissa, son Tyler, 8, and attorney Zellner were at his side.

"I don't even know what to think. I'm happy. I'm excited," Fox said. Asked if he ever doubted this day would come, he said, "No. Due to the support of my wife, due to Kathleen, I had no doubt in my mind" he eventually would be exonerated.

"I've dreamt every night" this would happen, Fox said. "Every single night."

Melissa Fox said, "We knew he didn't do anything wrong, and we knew that eventually would come out."

The family's nightmare began the morning of June 6, 2004, when Kevin Fox reported to police his daughter Riley was missing. An Amber Alert was issued, and searchers found Riley's body later in the day in Forked Creek, about 4 miles from the family's home.
The father was arrested in October – days before the election, Zellner pointed out today.

Prosecutors had said Fox told investigators he killed Riley by accident, then made her death look like a kidnapping and sexual assault as a cover-up. Fox was charged and ordered held in lieu of $25 million.

The DNA samples that could have precluded Fox's arrest in the first place were languishing at the time at a FBI laboratory in Quantico, Va., Glasgow said. They had been delivered to the lab June 14, 2004.

Data should have been returned by July or August, but the lab never got around to testing the samples, the prosecutor said.

While Glasgow declined to directly criticize his predecessor, he said Tomczak should have known the FBI lab was backlogged, and that he failed to follow up to see the tests were performed in a timely manner.

Early this year, under a new state's attorney, prosecutors asked for the swabs to be sent back, Glasgow said. After weeks of additional delay, they finally were returned in April. The samples then were sent to a different lab, and test results were returned Thursday evening.

Zellner said, "I want to thank Mr. Glasgow for his integrity, his courage. As soon as he got the results last night, he made a decision."

The lesson of the case, she said, was, "Do the test before you arrest."