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.
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