Alleged Burge Torture Victim Released From Jail

By Marcus Gilmer in News on Jan 14, 2010 10:00PM

Michael Tillman, who has served 23 years of a life sentence on a murder conviction, was released from prison today after prosecutors declined to retry him. Tillman claimed he was tortured by former Chicago Police Commander Jon Burge into confessing to the 1986 rape and murder of Betty Howard. But this morning, Judge Vincent Gaughan granted Tillman a new trial. At that point, Assistant Special State's Atty. Myles O'Rourke dropped the charges against Tillman. Howard's family has been angered by the move, believing Tillman is still guilty. Her daughter Angelita said after the announcement, "I'm truly hurt. I will be praying about this because it's unjust. ... It's truly messed up that the police messed up this case and because of that Michael is getting let out."

Tillman will now focus on getting a certificate of innocence which will also give $200,000 in compensation for wrongful imprisonment from the state. During the course of his alleged torture, Tillman named two other men who supposedly were with him the night Howard was raped and murdered. One of those men was acquitted and the other was never charged and Tillman was convicted on the basis of his confession. Another man - Clarence Trotter - was later discovered with Howard's possessions, tried, and convicted for the killing. And even though Tillman was granted a new trial in 1991, he was once again found guilty in 1996 and lost a 1999 appeal with the appellate court calling Tillman's confession “sufficient.”

Burge's trial is slated to get underway in May.