Gordon“Randy” Steidl, one of two men
accused of the 1986 double homicide of Paris newlyweds Dyke and Karen
Rhoads, may be one step closer to clearing his name. Special prosecutors in the case have written letters
to the state Prisoner Review Board indicating that no new evidence against
Steidl has been uncovered. The move clears the way for the board to act on
Steidl’s clemency petition. Steidl spent 17 years in prison for the
murders. In their letters to board general counsel Ken Tupy,
special prosecutors David Rands and Ed Parkinson indicate that an Edgar
County grand jury’s investigation of the murders is continuing, but
that the probe no longer is focused on Steidl. Prosecutors had previously asked the board to delay
voting on Steidl’s clemency petition until the grand jury had
finished its work. But in a two-paragraph letter, written May 19, Rands
said that the grand jury had not uncovered any new information regarding
Steidl. Parkinson, whose name was on Rands’ note, says he planned to
write a separate “more comprehensive” letter. “I’m not going to say we agree [with
Steidl] he’s innocent, but our investigation isn’t leading
anywhere that would justify the reprosecution of Randy Steidl,”
Parkinson says. “As a prosecutor, it would not be wise or prudent or
even fair to reprosecute Randy Steidl based upon the state of the evidence,
because the conviction was based largely on eyewitnesses who both claimed
to be there yet never saw each other there.” Debra Rienbolt and Darrell Herrington both testified
against Steidl, then later recanted their testimony. Each later recanted
the recantation. “We don’t have anything else on
Steidl,” Parkinson says. “There’s no new evidence
pointing toward Randy Steidl, and I don’t think there will
be.” Jorge Montes, chairman of the review board, says the
panel was ready with its recommendation in January, and will forward it to
the governor “during the next week.” However, Montes says it
would be unwise to read too much into this action. “I would not encourage you to make any
assumptions. It’s not in the eyes of the board as clearcut as people
may think,” Montes says. “Just because we’re giving all
these courtesies does not mean you can jump to the conclusion or
another.” Steidl’s conviction was vacated in 2003 by U.S.
District Judge Michael McCuskey, who ruled that Steidl probably would not
have been convicted if the jury had heard all the evidence. Steidl was
released from prison in May 2004, but freedom isn’t enough; he wants
to clear his name. “He’ll be upset until he gets
pardoned,” says Karen Daniel, Steidl’s lawyer and senior staff
attorney with the Center on Wrongful Convictions at Northwestern University
School of Law. “I think he needs to see the pardon. Until then,
he’s going to be afraid that somebody’s going to come knocking
at the door and arrest him.” Herb Whitlock, convicted of the same murders, has a
clemency petition pending before the Prisoner Review Board but remains in
prison. There’s no mention of him in the letters sent to the board. “Whitlock is not the same case,”
Parkinson says. The board’s next regularly scheduled meeting is
in July, but the panel that heard Steidl’s case in April could vote
at any time. Once the panel makes a recommendation, it will be sent to Gov.
Rod Blagojevich, who will decide whether to pardon Whitlock. Parkinson says he has no opinion about Steidl’s
guilt or innocence, only the certainty that there’s not enough
evidence to prosecute him. “I’m troubled by the lack of other
evidence that points to him,” Parkinson says. “He has always
declared his innocence, and I’m not satisfied with any real link with
Whitlock. “I’m not going to the extent to say that
he’s innocent. I’ve read a lot,” Parkinson says,
“and I wish somebody could solve the murders of Karen and Dyke
Rhoads, because they didn’t deserve to die that way. Nobody
does.”
This article appears in Jun 1-7, 2006.
