IL IL - Roberta Rinearson, 10, Brookfield, 17 Dec 1948

[Richard]

I wonder who it was that confessed?

From the above mentioned Chronology...

December 17, 1948 — Ten-year-old Roberta Rinearson leaves her home in Brookfield, Illinois, to take a bus to attend a movie in nearby LaGrange.

December 18, 1948 — The child’s body is found in a ditch near Elmhurst. She has been raped and strangled.

December 22, 1948 — Herlindo Perez Arias, a thirty-one-year-old mental patient, confesses to Dr. William H. Haines, director of the Behavior Clinic of Cook County, but Haines, in deference to doctor-patient confidentiality, says nothing.

December 30, 1948 — Arias commits suicide, but Haines maintains his silence.

 

[Richard]

Bumping case up.

 

[Cubby]

Two questions. Upthread someone posted Perez Arias passed a lie detector test. Where did this information come from? I did not find it in the two links posted for this case.

It take it Perez Arias was not institutionalized when he made this confession on Dec 22, or he would have been ruled out immediately?

What happened regarding the charges of the two girls reported being molested? Did prosecutors drop those too?

 

[STANDREID]

I wonder if Roberta's murder is in any way connected with the murders of the Grimes Sisters, Barbara and Patricia and also John and Anton Schuessler and Bobby Peterson. There was quite a time span between Roberta Rinearson's murder and the others - the Schuessler/Peterson murders were in October 1955 and the Grimes' sisters disappeared in late 1956 and weren't found until January 1957. I know Kenneth Hansen was convicted nearly 40 years later for the Schuessler/Peterson murders. He was connected to Silas Jayne of the notorious Chicago Horse Mafia. But the common demoninator in these murders is that they all disappeared after going to the movies. I wonder if some predator was prowling movie theaters in Chicago in the 40s and 50s and never got caught.

In reviewing this crime, I was also reminded of the so-called "Matinée Murders" as well as the 1946 Chicago murder of Susan Degnan, 6, for which William Heirens, who is now believed to the the world's longest serving inmate, is still imprisoned. His confession also followed a thorough police trampling.

 

[Richard]

Two questions. Upthread someone posted Perez Arias passed a lie detector test. Where did this information come from? I did not find it in the two links posted for this case.

It take it Perez Arias was not institutionalized when he made this confession on Dec 22, or he would have been ruled out immediately?

What happened regarding the charges of the two girls reported being molested? Did prosecutors drop those too?

I wish that I knew more about this case. I do not believe that Perez Arias was ever given a Lie Detector test. In fact, I think that he had already killed himself before investigators even knew about him.

According the the account I have seen, Perez Arias confessed to Dr. William H. Haines, director of the Behavior Clinic of Cook County, on 22 December 1948, but Dr. Haines, in deference to doctor-patient confidentiality, either did not report the confession, or perhaps contacted police, but declined to testify in court.

Six days later, on 30 December 1948, Arias committed suicide.

I do not know if Perez Arias was in a hospital on 17 December 1948, but probably not if his "confession" was deemed credible.

As I read the information about Letterich's case, I think that he was cleared of all charges, including those from the molestation case.

 

[Morrkane]

About six weeks ago, my uncle popped into my head. I have never met him, only heard the same story all my siblings and cousins had heard. He committed suicide. His name was Herlindo Perez Arias. I was so compelled by the thought of him, that I googled his name, and came upon this web site, the Northwestern site and an Ebay auction, a photo of my uncle leaving the police station, escorted by detectives. At first, I was in denial, this couldn't be MY uncle they were talking about, but after some searching on the web, I realized that it really was him. What a shocker! All my life, I'd heard the same story. My uncle had married an anglo woman, Alice, and they had a son, Richard. They divorced, Alice left with Richard and refused to let Herlindo see him. Herlindo became depressed and killed himself.
We never questioned this story. All of my relatives from Herlindo's generation, including my Dad, Rudy and his brother, Ray have all passed away, so there are no contemporaries to ask about what really happened. Fortunately, the Net provided me with the answers that I sought, and in my mind, at least, have cleared my Uncle of the charges.
So, here I am. Ready to take on all comers, anyone who wants to know why I am so confident on my Uncle's innocence.

 

[Cubby]

Welcome to WS Morrkane. FWIW, my initial impression/instinct/thought on Perez Arias was someone suffering from untreated mental illness who may have confessed to something he didn't commit. I can't pinpoint why, and it was awhile ago I read the available information online. Something just didn't add up for me that he was the responsible party.

I don't know if your uncle suffered from mental illness and it's not any of our business, but the bit I have read about mental illness, even in the 60's was so different than today. It was just my gut feeling and intial impression......

jmo

 

[Morrkane]

So here's the thing. It was just so weird that he just popped up in my head, and that I then found all this information when I googled his name. It was as if he was constantly pestering me about the case, because I just couldn't get it out of my head.
I emailed my oldest cousin, and she just confirmed what I'd heard, but with a twist, that Alice's parents called the cops on him, he got arrested and committed suicide at the police station. One of the details my cousin had was that the family didn't believe he committed suicide, they thought he'd gotten beaten to a pulp by the cops and died as a result of that. That the suicide story was just a cover up.
My older brother, was then wondering that if the official cause of death was suicide, how my grandfather managed to get him buried in a Catholic cemetery, in the family plot. As he died in 1948 and the Church didn't change their stance on suicides until 1962. My grandfather owned quite a few properties in South Chicago at the time, we think he may have used payolla to get it done.
Anyway, back to the case. After searching for newspaper articles, I came across the following items. Here are the links for those who are interested.


http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1955&dat=19481222&id=do0hAAAAIBAJ&sjid=_ZcFAAAAIBAJ&pg=4326,1812604

 

[Morrkane]

Here are more links to related articles to this case.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ZORhAAAAIBAJ&sjid=_nQNAAAAIBAJ&pg=3019,258552&dq=herlindo+arias&hl=en

 

[Morrkane]

And another...

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=do0hAAAAIBAJ&sjid=_ZcFAAAAIBAJ&pg=4326,1812604&dq=herlindo+arias&hl=en

 

[Morrkane]

And another...

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=beRhAAAAIBAJ&sjid=_nQNAAAAIBAJ&pg=3359,1621579&dq=herlindo+arias&hl=en

 

[Morrkane]

And finally, a whole slew of links via this one page.

http://news.google.com/news/story?pz=1&ned=us&hl=en&ncl=aVImjdB52L0zGxM&lr=en&rfilter=0&q=Herlindo+Arias&btnC=Go

 

[Morrkane]

Ebay had this photo negative for sale. I purchased it. Here's Herlindo walking out of the police station, probably on his way to the Manteno State Hospital. Which means, this is the last photo of my uncle taken when he was alive.

 

[Cubby]

So here's the thing. It was just so weird that he just popped up in my head, and that I then found all this information when I googled his name. It was as if he was constantly pestering me about the case, because I just couldn't get it out of my head.
I emailed my oldest cousin, and she just confirmed what I'd heard, but with a twist, that Alice's parents called the cops on him, he got arrested and committed suicide at the police station. One of the details my cousin had was that the family didn't believe he committed suicide, they thought he'd gotten beaten to a pulp by the cops and died as a result of that. That the suicide story was just a cover up.
My older brother, was then wondering that if the official cause of death was suicide, how my grandfather managed to get him buried in a Catholic cemetery, in the family plot. As he died in 1948 and the Church didn't change their stance on suicides until 1962. My grandfather owned quite a few properties in South Chicago at the time, we think he may have used payolla to get it done.
Anyway, back to the case. After searching for newspaper articles, I came across the following items. Here are the links for those who are interested.


http://news.google.com/newspapers?n...o0hAAAAIBAJ&sjid=_ZcFAAAAIBAJ&pg=4326,1812604

It's very possible it was a cover up with the "suicide" Morrkane. Things were very different back then, even with police brutality in chicago. While it is OT, all one has to do is google and they can see the first Mayor Daley was in a gang. They disquised them as "athletic clubs".

Thank you for sharing the information you have been able to find on your uncle. May he rest in peace.

 

[pdxmama]

From the above mentioned Chronology...

December 17, 1948 — Ten-year-old Roberta Rinearson leaves her home in Brookfield, Illinois, to take a bus to attend a movie in nearby LaGrange.

December 18, 1948 — The child’s body is found in a ditch near Elmhurst. She has been raped and strangled.

December 22, 1948 — Herlindo Perez Arias, a thirty-one-year-old mental patient, confesses to Dr. William H. Haines, director of the Behavior Clinic of Cook County, but Haines, in deference to doctor-patient confidentiality, says nothing.

December 30, 1948 — Arias commits suicide, but Haines maintains his silence.

So, I'm wondering when Dr. Haines told of the confession. I at first thought it would have been as soon as Arias died but the timeline says that Haines maintained his silence even after that. So when did he tell of the confession and who did he tell?

 

[Cubby]

So, I'm wondering when Dr. Haines told of the confession. I at first thought it would have been as soon as Arias died but the timeline says that Haines maintained his silence even after that. So when did he tell of the confession and who did he tell?

the above links posted by Morrkane indicate he confessed to police and a lie detector given by LE indicates his confession was not truthful.

 

[pdxmama]

the above links posted by Morrkane indicate he confessed to police and a lie detector given by LE indicates his confession was not truthful.

Hi Cubby,

Thanks, I did read that the LDT taken by Arias indicated he was lying. I am curious about Dr. Haines, though. The timeline says that Arias confessed to Haines and that even after the death of Arias, Haines remained silent about the confession because of doctor patient privilege. At some point Haines must have told someone that Arias had confessed to him or how else would we know about it?

It may not make any difference in the grand scheme of things but I'm really curious about who he finally told about the confession, when he told and why. Why was he no longer concerned with doctor patient privilege?

 

[Morrkane]

So I guess the thing that really bothers me is the fact that the Northwestern.edu site on wrongful convictions, makes it seem as if the only reason Lettrich Jr. was cleared of the charges was the confession of my uncle.

December 22, 1948 — Herlindo Perez Arias, a thirty-one-year-old mental patient, confesses to Dr. William H. Haines, director of the Behavior Clinic of Cook County, but Haines, in deference to doctor-patient confidentiality, says nothing.
December 30, 1948 — Arias commits suicide, but Haines maintains his silence.

The fact that my Uncle is being portrayed as a mental patient when he was really only admitted to the Manteno State Hospital only hours before his suicide is also misleading.

The description in the site's timeline, makes it seem as if Haines was my Uncle's long term therapist, when in fact, Haines had only done the one session with him. I think Haines kept silent about it because it had been proven that the confession was a lie, having found my Uncle "insane" and therefore committed.

 

[Morrkane]

There's a photo on Ebay being offered that's of George Lettrich Jr showing detectives the car he claims he used to pick up Roberta. There's also some copy from the article that accompanied the photo when it first appeared in the papers.

Offering an original 4x5 negative of child molester and killer George Lettrich Jr. walking law officials through events leading up to his rape and murder of little Roberta Rinearson, August 12, 1950. He is showing authorities his father's car which he used to give Roberta a ride (Lettrich Sr is the old man in the sweater to the right)
August 13, 1950 - Authorities take Lettrich to the Rinearson crime scene where he re-enacts the crime before some 150 spectators, including reporters, photographers, and police officers.

Here's the link:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/4x5-NEG-Child-killer-rapist-George-Lettrich-Jr-50-/330514937112

 

[Sleuthster]

Do they keep evidence after so many years that would be availible to run dna? Just curious because it seems like it's still unsolved after all these years. The confession alone is not enough to convict especially given the fact that he was being deceptive in his confession on the lie detector test.

I dont like all the references that George Lettrich's case is being used as a wrongful conviction case. I dont know that it was. One of them did it IMO but unfortunately unless they keep evidence this long there would be no way to prove who was the real perp.