GUILTY IL - Riley Fox, 3, Wilmington, 6 June 2004

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I actually had to get up and walk away after reading this article

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-fox_web13nov14,1,5021036.story

WHAT I DON'T UNDERSTAND:

During the autopsy, Denton noted "sexual injuries" to Riley, he testified. "I didn't see any semen, so I didn't think there would be any DNA," he said.

........

He also said that on a scale of 1 to 10, Riley's sexual assault was a 10 in severity. Defense attorneys have argued that detectives believed the sexual assault was "minor," which could have been an indication that she was not attacked by a known sexual predator.

:waitasec: Since this appears to have been an extremely severe attack, how could Denton have concluded that there was no DNA evidence without testing?

"Kathleen Zellner, Fox's attorney, said in her opening statement that after Fox's arrest in October 2004, Sgt. Edward Hayes of the Sheriff's Department ordered the FBI to stop testing the rape-kit DNA. Defense attorneys said he only ordered the FBI to stop "superfluous" testing of non-essential evidence."

The FBI is expected to testify on this issue. I'd be very interested to hear specifically what evidence Sgt. Hayes considered "superfluous". Is there such a thing in a child murder? Especially considering the timing of his call to the FBI, the day AFTER Tomazak lost the election. Sounds more like he was intentionally trying to throw a monkey at the wrench.

"Denton also testified that Detective Scott Swearengen told a coroner's inquest jury that Riley had been in the water for more than 12 hours when her body was found in Forked Creek.

Denton said that was a misrepresentation of his autopsy findings. Wrinkling of the skin indicated she had been in the water at least an hour, but he could not tell how much longer, he said.

If Riley had been in the water more than 12 hours, it would have fit a timeline that would have given her father the opportunity to commit the crime. But if she had been in the water less than 7 ½ hours, it would not have been possible for Fox to have placed his daughter there.

After the autopsy, Will County Coroner Patrick O'Neil called Denton to apologize for Swearengen's misrepresentation, Denton testified."

Was this a "misrepresentation" or a flat out lie? And, why did they feel the need to lie at the coroner's inquest when they had a video "confession" that they didn't play for the jury? Pesky timeline issue ....

Curiouser and Curiouser!!!
 
Even more interesting .... I went to check the articles this morning online and discovered the article I quote from extensively has been massively rewritten. All the information about Hayes & the FBI is gone. Nothing is included about the timeline conflicts and the false testimony that was given to the Coroner's Jury. POOF ... I guess if it isn't reported, it doesn't exist.

In it's place, which you can read here: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-fox_web13nov14,1,5021036.story
Is a brief discussion on how the poor detectives just misunderstood/had a different opinion of the autopsy results.
 
This article is even more lame: http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/heraldnews/news/649006,4_1_JO14_FOX_S1.article

They start off with "After Dr. John Denton performed an autopsy on the body of 3-year-old Riley Fox more than three years ago, he knew some things for sure. Others couldn't be pinned down precisely."

Then they go on to talk about all the things he couldn't determine and say NOTHING about what he did determine and how that was DIFFERENT then what was presented at the Coroner's Inquest. :doh:
 
Now that the trial has begun and is being reported daily in the Chicago Tribune, many more people are becoming aware of how Will County Law Enforcement has handled this case. Several of them state their opinions quite eloquently. These are the first two comments on today's Tribune article cited by huk and golfmom:

From Jim in Palatine, IL -

"I can't believe any of these dirty pigs or the politically motivated attorneys masquerading as prosecutors are still employed...anywhere. Not only are these people despicable, their apparent disregard for justice and the law, and fair administration of justice under our law, are total liabilities for anyone dumb enough to employ these people. The fact that the county, and these losers who worked for them, are fighting the lawsuit at all shows that not only do they disregard personal responsibility and accountability, but they have absolutely no principle whatsoever. They should be prosecuted and sent to prison to rot; they are among the worst criminals possible, accusing (and through whatever means achieving a confession from) a father for supposedly committing such a crime on his daughter. These people (the cops and prosecutors) are real sick individuals to even think that up, and to feed Fox the details of their perverted fantasies.

Not only are they bad people, but they're apparently not very good at doing their jobs either if they had to accuse an innocent person."

And from Shaune in Paxton, IL -

"Right on all counts. Almost makes you think they're covering for "one of their own." Probably not; like you said they're just making excuses for a very botched investigation. Hmmm...saliva or semen, what the hell difference does that make ?! It came from a RAPE KIT in the brutal rape and murder of a BABY! How can any evidence in such a case be called non-essential? This whole case has been sick from the start, the crime itself, the dad being coerced into a confession and serving 8 months in jail, and the morons working the case trying to cover up their lack of worth even now. This isn't justice, it's a joke."

And from yours truly -

As more and more details of this case emerge during the trial, I think the 90% of the people in law enforcement in this country who are honest, fair, decent and hard working should be greatly embarrassed that they have people like the defendants in this case in the other 10% of their profession. Bad Apples is too charitable of a term to describe these defendants. Hopefully, some of those decent law enforcement people will have the courage to break the "code of silence" and speak out and condemn them. Their words will be the most effective ones.
 
golfmom said:
This article is even more lame: http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/heraldnews/news/649006,4_1_JO14_FOX_S1.article

They start off with "After Dr. John Denton performed an autopsy on the body of 3-year-old Riley Fox more than three years ago, he knew some things for sure. Others couldn't be pinned down precisely."

Then they go on to talk about all the things he couldn't determine and say NOTHING about what he did determine and how that was DIFFERENT then what was presented at the Coroner's Inquest. :doh:
Click to expand...

The reason this article is lame is that it was written by Stewart Warren. I don't know why, but she (yes, she is a woman) was recently appointed the Herald News criminal reporter. From reading her past articles, I have concluded that it is well beyond the capabilities of her journalistic talents even for her to write ads for a shopper's weekly.

Also, I had the opportunity to speak to her on the phone about this case. She told me that she is 100 percent certain that Kevin Fox killed Riley, DNA results notwithstanding (she mentioned Riley being in the water as invalidating these results). She also lauded the professionalism of Sheriff Kaupus and spoke of him so highly that I wondered exactly what kind of relationship she had with him.

The previous Herald News articles on this case were written by Brian Stanley, a much better reporter and writer who does not appear to have compromised his journalistic integrity like Stewart Warren has.
 
genecam said:
The reason this article is lame is that it was written by Stewart Warren. I don't know why, but she (yes, she is a woman) was recently appointed the Herald News criminal reporter. From reading her past articles, I have concluded that it is well beyond the capabilities of her journalistic talents even for her to write ads for a shopper's weekly.

........
The previous Herald News articles on this case were written by Brian Stanley, a much better reporter and writer who does not appear to have compromised his journalistic integrity like Stewart Warren has.
Click to expand...

BAH .... just completely typical. :bang:
 
http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/heraldnews/news/651608,4_1_JO15_FOX_S1.article

"(I had) a very strong feeling," Swearengen testified. "Cops call it a gut feeling." To him, it just didn't seem like a sexual predator was responsible for the 3-year-old's death."

hmmmm, an extremely brutal sexual assault on a three year old child could possibly be due to a sexual predator. :crazy:

"She also asked Swearengen why he didn't write a report about the fact that the duct tape found covering the child's mouth had been dropped on the floor by the police, perhaps contaminating the evidence.

"I don't believe it was that big of an issue," Swearengen testified."

OK, this one made me laugh. I watched Gorden Ramsey Kitchen Nightmare's last night and a cook dropped a chicken wing on the floor and threw it back in the fryer. When Ramsey asked him about it, the cook told him that the grease would sterilize the chicken wing. You could see poor Ramsey's head exploding as that chicken wing was served to a customer. The cook didn't think it was that big of an issue either.
 
Crimson Sky said:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-foxboth15nov15,0,932472.story
Click to expand...

I guess this article is a work in progress as well. It's been edited twice this morning.

Anyway a couple of items that stand out to me in this article is the whole "rush to judgment" defense. I've never bought into it, I personally have thought it was a bunch of bananas defense. However, I can see based on what was reported of Det. Swearengen's testimony that might have been the case here.

1. The detective admits to KZ that he made up his mind immediately that this wasn't a sexual predator, and he felt that her murder was a "cover up".
2. He doesn't document the statement by Melissa that he claims he overheard her utter. That would be a pretty dang important utterance and IF she did state it, I can't imagine why he would put it in a report.
3. He completely altered the autopsy findings to fit his theory. Not just a little bit, but outrageously. This reminds me so much of the Ryan Harris case.
4. My blood runs cold over the whole idea of Tyler taking the stand. Again, big reminders of Ryan Harris. In this article http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/heraldnews/news/651608,4_1_JO15_FOX_S1.article it says that Tyler never said that after intense (videotaped) grilling at the child advocacy center but magically made the statement to Swearengen again no video or audio tape. IMHO since he was capable of changing the autopsy results, he was capable of altering both Melissa and Tyler's statements.
5. Not once have we heard any evidence that they ever tried to rule Kevin out. The whole process was aimed to twist, distort or manipulate evidence to bring about a conviction.
 
From today's Chicago Tribune article recounting Detective Swearingen's testimony, as dissected in golfmom's post above, this paragraph clarifies that the suit has been amended to reflect Detective Ruettiger's death earlier this year:

"The Foxes seek unspecified damages in their suit against five sheriff's detectives, the estate of a sixth, a polygraph examiner, a forensic interviewer and the county itself."

I'm glad Ruettiger is still, in some way, being held accountable for his actions in a great miscarriage of justice and abuse of his police powers. I would say that he now has the opportunity to express his sympathy to Riley for what happened to her and to apologize for his complicity in trying to frame her father.

However, I don't think he can do that, because I seriously doubt that he and Riley are in the same place.
 
"The Foxes seek unspecified damages in their suit against five sheriff's detectives, the estate of a sixth, a polygraph examiner, a forensic interviewer and the county itself."

I'm glad Ruettiger is still, in some way, being held accountable for his actions in a great miscarriage of justice and abuse of his police powers. I would say that he now has the opportunity to express his sympathy to Riley for what happened to her and to apologize for his complicity in trying to frame her father

However, I don't think he can do that, because I seriously doubt that he and Riley are in the same place.[/quote]

Perhaps maybe just maybe you can stop with an attack on a dead man.. you are not judge, jury, and executioner on this mans life. Enough already.. Opinions are all well and good but you just seem to take one step further every single time.. and to be quite honest I wonder what your personal motives are regarding this case. It is so sad that you spend so much time angry at the police but just not enough time worrying about the fact that there is still a killer in our backyard. Well mine anyways..you see I actually know the people involved.. and can actually look out my window every day and see a flower garden dedicated to Riley. I really could care less about this civil case and wish that we could all get back to the fact there is a little girl who has died. I guess my biggest hope is that if the Foxes get any money they use it to find their daughter's killer. I am sorry but I think the focus is on the wrong thing. I have spent too much of my time responding to your comments as is and hope that after this trial is over you find in your heart to get back to finding Riley's killer and channel your anger about the injustices in the world to something positive. I will no longer be responding to any negatives posts on this thread because quite truthfully I find some of the posts distasteful and this thread has just become downright negative and bordering on slander of others. So good luck to you all.. Happy Holidays and Justice for Riley and all the other lost ones.
 
crash676 said:
Perhaps maybe just maybe you can stop with an attack on a dead man.. you are not judge, jury, and executioner on this mans life. Enough already.. Opinions are all well and good but you just seem to take one step further every single time.. and to be quite honest I wonder what your personal motives are regarding this case. It is so sad that you spend so much time angry at the police but just not enough time worrying about the fact that there is still a killer in our backyard. Well mine anyways..you see I actually know the people involved.. and can actually look out my window every day and see a flower garden dedicated to Riley. I really could care less about this civil case and wish that we could all get back to the fact there is a little girl who has died. I guess my biggest hope is that if the Foxes get any money they use it to find their daughter's killer. I am sorry but I think the focus is on the wrong thing. I have spent too much of my time responding to your comments as is and hope that after this trial is over you find in your heart to get back to finding Riley's killer and channel your anger about the injustices in the world to something positive. I will no longer be responding to any negatives posts on this thread because quite truthfully I find some of the posts distasteful and this thread has just become downright negative and bordering on slander of others. So good luck to you all.. Happy Holidays and Justice for Riley and all the other lost ones.
Click to expand...

Crash, now take a deep breath and count to 10. Obviously, this is a sensitive subject as Det. Ruettiger has passed, however him dying did not qualify for him for sainthood. Genecam only reported that Det. Ruettiger's estate is still being sued and gave a personal opinion. Previously, Genecam was flayed for just reporting his death and obit here without expressing an opinion. I'm sorry that you this subject upsets you, but the reality is that Det. Rutettiger is apart of this case and still subject to speculation.

Many folks believe that two crimes were committed here; first Riley's murder and second the way this case was handled. I know that everyone would rather focus our energy on finding Riley's killer. Unfortunately, I think that this is going to be one of those unsolved cases that haunts us all. Perhaps one day, LE will stumble on a DNA match. My fear is that it'll be at the cost of another precious child.

:blowkiss:
 
However, I don't think he can do that, because I seriously doubt that he and Riley are in the same place.[/quote]

This particular comment is what my earlier post was in regards too...to me this steps over the line. Officer Ruettiger did play a role in this investigation and if his crime was participating in an investigation that was over the line then so be it.. but to blatantly make comments like this above all else is distasteful to this man and his family.
 
crash676 said:
Perhaps maybe just maybe you can stop with an attack on a dead man.. you are not judge, jury, and executioner on this mans life. Enough already.. Opinions are all well and good but you just seem to take one step further every single time.. and to be quite honest I wonder what your personal motives are regarding this case. It is so sad that you spend so much time angry at the police but just not enough time worrying about the fact that there is still a killer in our backyard. Well mine anyways..you see I actually know the people involved.. and can actually look out my window every day and see a flower garden dedicated to Riley. I really could care less about this civil case and wish that we could all get back to the fact there is a little girl who has died. I guess my biggest hope is that if the Foxes get any money they use it to find their daughter's killer. I am sorry but I think the focus is on the wrong thing. I have spent too much of my time responding to your comments as is and hope that after this trial is over you find in your heart to get back to finding Riley's killer and channel your anger about the injustices in the world to something positive. I will no longer be responding to any negatives posts on this thread because quite truthfully I find some of the posts distasteful and this thread has just become downright negative and bordering on slander of others. So good luck to you all.. Happy Holidays and Justice for Riley and all the other lost ones.
Click to expand...
The recounting of the brutality of Riley's assault and death just devastates me. Yes, I do have feelings for the terror that poor little girl went through. That is what makes me so angry at the police and what they did to Kevin. And the Foxes had to spend $330,000 to exonerate him. It's a further injustice that they have to sue to get at least that money back, plus his lost wages while he was jailed. They made all the effort to investigate leads and spent all of the money on the DNA testing while the sheriff's police did, at best, nothing or, at worst, sabotaged these efforts so they could continue with their framing of Kevin. I am glad that I do not live in Will County where your tax money goes to support this shoddy and dishonest police work - a place where they manipulate the evidence to match their suspect instead of trying to find the real criminal that matches the evidence.

Remember, this was a death penalty case. Kevin could be sitting on death row awaiting the gas chamber by now if the sheriff's police had their way and Kevin didn't have a sharp, zealous brother and a good lawyer. I am really tired of people who are trying to trivialize LE's outright dishonesty here into just a few minor mistakes. As I have said before, people who are in professions that deal in life and death need to be held to a higher standard than the rest of us and the defendants here fall far short of that standard.

And yes, I think the focus should be on finding the person that committed this heinous crime before he does it again - hopefully he hasn't. And yes, I think the civil suit is exposing the second crime that was committed in this case - this one by law enforcement.

Happy holidays to you, too, and Justice for Riley.
 
crash676 said:
However, I don't think he can do that, because I seriously doubt that he and Riley are in the same place.
Click to expand...

This particular comment is what my earlier post was in regards too...to me this steps over the line. Officer Ruettiger did play a role in this investigation and if his crime was participating in an investigation that was over the line then so be it.. but to blatantly make comments like this above all else is distasteful to this man and his family.[/QUOTE]

In my opinion, it's nowhere near as far as over the line as speculation regarding a cigarette being inserted to plant dna evidence. Some of the early comments on the Fox family who had just lost a daughter shocked me. Sometimes, we just all have to agree to disagree. As long as we're not attacking each other :dance:
 
genecam said:
I am glad that I do not live in Will County where your tax money goes to support this shoddy and dishonest police work - a place where they manipulate the evidence to match their suspect instead of trying to find the real criminal that matches the evidence.
.
Click to expand...

Genecam, it's interesting to see the wake-up call folks are getting on WC and the investigation into Drew Peterson's third wife's death. People are stunned wondering how her death could be ruled accidental based on the evidence. I'm not, it is Illinois after all. :innocent:
 
Just kindof curious, if he was getting ready to testify don't you think he would have looked over all the reports and given the grand jury and coroner's inquest jury the most up-to-date accurate information while testifying? Instead he did exactly what he testified he would "absolutely not" do, fabricate (hrs in water) AND withhold evidence (most recent reports).

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-fox_both16nov16,0,3219371.story

Swearengen said Thursday he had seen far worse sexual assaults on children and contended the pathologist's initial report to detectives indicated it was minor. He said he would "absolutely not" fabricate or withhold evidence.
 
http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=local&id=5766333

He was asked what he could remember back in June 2004 from the night his younger sister was sexually assaulted and found dead near the family home. When asked if he saw his father leave with Riley before she disappeared, he said no.

In June 2004, a woman from county services repeatedly asked him who took Riley and Tyler eventually started sobbing and said "I don't know."
 
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