Eye on ISP

The legal wrangling among officers of the Illinois State Police continues with a nationally televised news show to be broadcast this week and a new lawsuit set for trial in January. On Saturday, the CBS news show 48 Hours Mystery will focus on the 1986 Paris, Ill., murder of newlyweds Dyke and Karen Rhoads. Although two men — Randy Steidl and Herb Whitlock — were quickly convicted of the crime, the case is still a source of controversy. Steidl was released from prison in May 2004 and has since filed a lawsuit claiming he and Whitlock were framed. Whitlock remains in prison, but has an appeal pending. The case has also pitted officer against officer inside the ISP. When Lt. Mike Callahan pressed to reopen the murder probe, he was relieved of his investigative duties and transferred to patrol. In April, a federal jury found that ISP Capt. Steven Fermon and Lt. Col. Diane Carper had retaliated against Callahan (they are appealing the jury’s decision). Callahan will be featured in the 48 Hours broadcast. Last week, Lance Dillon — another ISP officer with an unrelated lawsuit against Fermon — won the right to a trial when Fermon’s motion for summary judgment was dismissed. Dillon, a former narcotics investigator, claims that Fermon transferred him to patrol in retaliation for complaints he made against Lou Shanks, a former ISP agent who was Fermon’s personal friend. In 2000, Shanks and Dillon worked together in an ISP drug unit called the Vermillion County Metropolitan Enforcement Group. Dillon alleges that the unit set up a sting operation just across the border in Indiana to take advantage of that state’s tougher drug laws. But after an Illinois-based dealer pleaded guilty, Shanks testified at his sentencing hearing that the man mainly sold drugs in Indiana. Dillon told the prosecutor in the case that Shanks’ testimony was false, and later repeated that same allegation to an ISP official conducting a background check on Shanks. Shanks was later terminated by ISP for reasons unrelated to the Indiana drug sting. Dillon’s case is scheduled to go to trial next month in Urbana, with U.S. District Judge Michael P. McCuskey presiding. Although this case is not connected to the Paris homicides, some of the same players are involved. Dillon is represented by Springfield attorney John Baker, who also represents Callahan. McCuskey is the same judge who ruled on Steidl’s appeal, clearing the way for his release from prison.

Eye on ISP

CBS looks at Rhoads case; ranking officer sued

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