Indictment in Nicarico Case

By Erin in News on Nov 30, 2005 7:34PM

Yesterday's 15-count indictment against Brian Dugan for the rape and murder of Jeanine Nicarico did many things but, as Eric Zorn points out, it did not prompt DuPage County authorities to actually say that the Aurora man was responsible—an omission that does little to to erase nearly 20 years worth of memories as to just how bungled and botched the investigation was from the beginning.

For nearly all of Chicagoist's life, we've heard about the Nicarico case. From the brutal way in which the 10-year-old Naperville girl was killed in February 1983 to the acquitals of both Rolando Cruz and Alex Hernandez in 1995, the two Aurora men originally convicted of the crime. We won't parse out every detail—most of you are like us and know the gist and those who don't should really, really, go check out Zorn for the play-by-play—but it's certainly one of the most infamous cases in Chicagoland history.

For Chicagoist, it's always seemed to be an example of politics being the enemy of justice. More than one DuPage County State's Attorney candidate has hitched his wagon to the case during election time and, as Zorn points out, even after State Police Lt. Ed Cisowski conducted an in-depth investigation of Dugan's statements, sure that he'd been solely responsible for the crime, the DuPage County prosecutors refused Dugan's guilty plea. To say that the circumstances surrounding the case have been a travesty for all parties concerned is an understatement.

Tuesday's indictment doesn't bring back Nicarico and we wonder how closure could ever come for her family after more than two decades worth of heartache. Indeed, according to the Trib, Patricia Nicarico believe that Cruz, Hernandez and Stephen Buckley, who also was originally charged with the crime but for whom the charges were later dropped, were involved somehow.