DNA Links Convicted Rapist to 20-Year-Old Crime

By Chuck Sudo in News on Apr 15, 2011 7:42PM

Recent DNA testing related to the rape and murder of a 14-year old girl 20 years ago may exonerate the five young men who were charged and convicted of the crime. The DNA testing of evidence in the case of Cateresa Matthews instead links the crime to a recently paroled man who lived near Matthews at the time and has a conviction for rape. That man was taken into custody this week on a drug charge and has not been charged yet for Matthews murder.

Matthews went missing from her grandmother's Dixmoor home in November 1991. Her body was found three weeks later with a gunshot wound to the mouth. Nearly a year later, charges were brought against five men in connection with the rape and murder. All five were teenagers — three of them 14, the other two 16. Three of the teens confessed, two of them testified against the other three in exchange for lighter sentences. But their testimonies were riddled with inconsistencies and DNA evidence never tied any off them to the crime. Also notable is that one of the five who testified in exchange for a lighter sentence has recanted his testimony, believing that the confession he signed contained his statement of innocence. That man, Robert Lee Veal, also suffers from learning disabilities, meaning he may not have understood what he was signing.