Will County Sheriff Taken to Woodshed in Riley Fox Invesitagion Report

By Chuck Sudo in News on Jan 25, 2011 3:20PM

An independent report released yesterday by the Will County Sheriff's department lists a litany of mistakes made by the department in the murder investigation of Riley Fox. The report by national security firm Andrews International called the investigation, in which Riley's father Kevin Fox was originally charged in her murder, an "unguided missile."

The report details what Andres International calls the "nonexistent" management of the investigation; overlooked and never-processed portions of the crime scene; and missed opportunities by investigators that could have led to Riley Fox's killer, Scott Eby, sooner, including missing the sneakers later found near Riley Fox's body with Eby's last name written in them.

"It is a tragedy that this simple narrative of the crime and the evidence to support it was lost in the 'noise' of the case," the report said. "Investigators were too quick to dismiss the idea that the Riley Fox murder may have been a stranger crime and they were too focused on Kevin Fox to correct their error."

The report also takes former Will County State's Attorney Jeff Tomczak and his office to task for not scrutinizing the videotaped confession of Kevin Fox.

“It is clear from the videotape that Kevin Fox had not confessed to premeditated murder or to sexual assault, and there was no other evidence besides the confession supporting the state’s attorney’s move to charge him with these crimes and seek the death penalty.”

The report recommends further DNA testing for investigators, a supervisor other than the lead detective to handle major cases, meetings in which everyone discusses updates and evidence is physically reviewed, and that formal police interviews be recorded. The last recommendation is already in place.