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Give him the Chair!!
 Posted
7/29/2009 5:31:00 AM
Closure finally came Tuesday in a brutal
child murder case that has been a political football for more than a quarter
century.
Convicted murderer Brian Dugan, 52, pleaded guilty Tuesday to the Feb. 25,
1983, kidnapping, rape and murder of 10-year-old Jeanine Nicarico in Naperville.
Standing in a hushed DuPage
County courtroom, Dugan
acknowledged raping and killing the fifth grader, rather than go to trial,
in hopes his guilty plea would help him avoid the death penalty.
Dugan, dressed in a bright orange jumpsuit, his legs shackled, calmly
agreed when asked by DuPage County Circuit Judge George Bakalis what plea he
wished to enter to the first-degree murder charge.
Dugan wants a jury to be impaneled to decide whether he should get the death
penalty for the murder.
Previously, Dugan had offered to plead guilty if prosecutors agreed not to
pursue the death penalty, but DuPage
County State's
Attorney Joseph Birkett rejected any deal.
This time, Dugan pleaded guilty without conditions. He told the court that his
plea was his decision alone, athough he said his attorneys were not in full
agreement.
Now a special jury will be selected to determine Dugan's sentence, which could
include death. That phase is not likely to begin until September.
Jeanine's parents opted not to attend Tuesday's hearing but are expected to be
key witnesses at Dugan's sentencing.
The abrupt guilty plea came less than two months before Dugan had been
scheduled to stand trial for Jeanine's kidnapping, rape and murder, which took
place on a day she'd stayed home from school sick.
But Dugan chose instead to plead guilty and ask that a jury -- not a judge --
decide whether he should be sentenced to death.
Legal experts expect that, at his sentencing hearing, Dugan will point to his
guilty plea as part of his effort to persuade jurors that he is remorseful and
doesn't deserve a death sentence.
Both prosecutors and Dugan's attorney's did not comment after the hearing.
 1983:
Jeanine Nicarico's Body Is Found
1989:
Prosecutors Call Dugan A Liar
1991:
Another Man Faces Death In Case
Dugan is already serving two life sentences for killing a 7-year-old Somonauk
girl and a 27-year-old Geneva woman.
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Tingle
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