Jeanine Nicarico

A suburban Chicago jury said Wednesday that a convicted murderer should be executed for the rape and killing of a 10-year-old girl kidnapped from her home 26 years ago — a case that helped lead to landmark death penalty reforms in Illinois, including a moratorium on executions. Patricia Nicarico gasped and put her hand over her mouth as a bailiff announced that Brian Dugan — who admitted yanking her 10-year-old daughter, Jeanine, out of the family's suburban Chicago home in 1983 — should die rather than receive another life sentence. "We are shedding tears of joy," Nicarico told reporters. "A death sentence is never ... Read Full Story

An Illinois jury has decided that a convicted killer is eligible for the death penalty for the 1983 kidnapping, rape and murder of a 10-year-old girl. DuPage County State's Attorney Joe Birkett said the jury deliberated for about an hour Wednesday before finding Brian Dugan eligible. The sentencing hearing on whether the death penalty is the appropriate punishment for Dugan was to begin Wednesday afternoon and is expected to last four to six weeks. Dugan pleaded guilty July 28 to the murder of Jeanine Nicarico (nihk-AIR'-ih-koh) on Feb. 25, 1983, after he abducted the girl from her home near Naperville. He has been serving ... Read Full Story

Pat Nicarico (left), her husband Tom Nicarico (center) and DuPage County State's Attorney Joseph Birkett speak at a press conference after a jury sentenced Brian Dugan to death. (Terrence Antonio James/ Chicago Tribune)  | CLTV VIDEO Brian Dugan showed no emotion as jurors -- after 10 hours of "calm and unemotional deliberations" -- sentenced him to death this afternoon for the 1983 rape and murder of Jeanine Nicarico. Cries of "Yes!" rose from the family sections of the DuPage County courtroom as the verdict was announced shortly after 2:30 p.m. The slain girl's mother and sisters wept. "I'm shedding tears not of sadness but ... Read Full Story

Pat Nicarico (left), her husband Tom Nicarico (center) and DuPage County State's Attorney Joseph Birkett speak at a press conference after a jury sentenced Brian Dugan to death. (Terrence Antonio James/ Chicago Tribune)  | CLTV VIDEO Moments after a clerk announced that jurors Wednesday had condemned Brian Dugan to death for the rape and murder of Jeanine Nicarico, more than a quarter century of weddings interrupted by cemetery visits, of missed graduations, of guilt and anguish, cascaded on the Nicarico family. Through their tears, they found enough composure to display a gesture of wordless gratitude. They leaned forward and hugged Opal Horton, who escaped Dugan ... Read Full Story

A defense attorney has asked a judge to bar prosecutors from seeking the death penalty against a convicted murderer who has pleaded guilty to the 1983 slaying of a 10-year-old Illinois girl. Brian Dugan's attorney argued Thursday that the long delay makes it too difficult to find evidence for mercy. The defense submitted a confession Dugan reportedly wrote in 1985 in which he admitted raping and killing Jeanine Nicarico of Naperville. The defense contends Dugan wanted to clear two other men wrongly convicted in the case. Those men endured multiple trials, death sentences and more than 10 years in prison before being cleared. The ... Read Full Story