Former Murder Defendant Argues Against Death Penalty

In the first couple of years after his arrival on Illinois' death row, Randy Steidl said he wondered why convicts being rolled past his cell to the death room on a gurney were smiling.

"They went out like they were going to a picnic: shaking hands, high-fiveing, 'See you guys,'" he said.

"I didn't understand at the time why they went out with a smile on their face until after about a year or two of living in a four-by-eight cage with any kind of homicidal maniac or mentally ill person that wouldn't take a bath.

"Had they come by with that gurney two years into my life without parole, I'd have buckled myself on it," Steidl said. "I'd have found my own vein. That's how miserable life without parole is."

Steidl on Sunday recalled his 17-year saga of being found guilty of killing a newlywed husband and wife at home in their bed, having his death sentence reduced to life without parole because an Illinois judge found his trial attorney had not adequately prepared for his sentencing hearing, and being freed after a federal judge ruled it was "reasonably probable'' that a jury would have acquitted Steidl had his defense attorney done more to challenge the state's case.

But according to Steidl, there was more than poor representation by counsel that resulted in his plight. He pegged a local businessman involved in organized crime as a suspect, saying he was a big contributor to the Illinois governor's campaign and was the boss of the woman murdered.

Steidl, 58, described how he went from conviction in 1986 to exoneration in 2004 before about 60 people in the sanctuary of the Westport Unitarian Church on Lyons Plains Road as part of a "Death Row to Freedom Tour," organized by the Connecticut Network to Abolish the Death Penalty.

Steidl attributes regaining his freedom to a number of people, including an Illinois State Police investigator determined to reopen the murder case, a story on CBS News' "48 Hours," a group of Northwestern University journalism students who were told to reinvestigate the case as a class project, a group of lawyers and expert witnesses donating their time and his mother.

At the time of his release from prison, the Associated Press quoted Steidl as saying his mother, "kept me going because of her strength.''

He told his audience Sunday, "I'm not free because of the system, I'm free despite it."

Steidl said the "good news" about being sentenced to death is the resources that become available at no cost to prepare an appeal.

Throughout the ordeal, Steidl always maintained his innocence in the July 6, 1986, murders of newlyweds Dyke and Karen Rhoads in Paris, Ill. They were stabbed multiple times before their home was torched.

Steidl's co-defendant in the case, Herbert Whitlock, was convicted two weeks before Steidl of killing Karen Rhoads. He was released four years after Steidl successfully appealed on the grounds of his trial.

Beyond issues of corrupt politics, sloppy police investigations, witnesses perjuring themselves to receive reward money, incompetent prosecutors, inept lawyers, and errors by the trial judge – all of which occurred in his case, Steidl said — there's human error.

When you have a system in place of capital punishment, said Steidl, "it's made up of humans; humans make errors." And therefore, he asked, how can you justify the idea that the system is perfect?

Steidl said his speaking engagements before legislators, faith groups and college audiences are "kind of my therapy, it keeps me sane," when he considers he is among almost 140 people who have been released from death row because of wrongful convictions.

Following Steidl's presentation, Andrew L. Schneider, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Connecticut, told the audience the death penalty is not only immoral in principle, but is unfair and discriminatory in practice, assures the execution of the innocent and is the ultimate denial of civil liberties.

In the upcoming elections for statewide office, Schneider said, "We have a great opportunity here in Connecticut of abolishing this unjust and inhumane institution."

Schneider said the death penalty is mistakenly thought to be a deterrent to committing crimes, while states that have the death penalty have a higher rate of violence than those that do not.

Steidl will be speaking today at 2 p.m. at Eastern Connecticut State University, Student Center, 83 Windham St., Willimantic; Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Geer Village, 77 S. Canaan Rd., Canaan; and Wednesday at 7 p.m. at St. Bridget's Church, 80 Main St., Manchester.

In addition to the Connecticut Network to Abolish the Death Penalty, Steidl's appearances are being sponsored by Witness to Innocence, a Philadelphia-based association he belongs to of exonerated death row inmates.