Illinois group pushes to exonerate man convicted of Krajcir crime

An Illinois group is pushing for the posthumous exoneration of a man convicted of an attempted murder a known serial killer recently confessed to.

Grover Thompson was convicted in 1981 and sentenced to 40 years in prison. He died in prison in 1996.

After Thompson's death, convicted serial murder and rapist Timothy Krajcir told authorities he had committed the crime. Krajcir is more than four years into an 80-year sentence for murders in Williamson and Jackson counties in Illinois. In addition to being sentenced to life in prison for the kidnapping of Joyce Tharp, whom he confessed to killing in Carbondale, Ill., Krajcir received a 20-year sentence for a burglary charge.

In 2008 he confessed to five murders in Cape Girardeau in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

The Downstate Illinois Innocence Project and students from Southern Illinois University's law school are now collaborating to get Thompson posthumously exonerated for Krajcir's crime, according to a news release sent Thursday. The group will present its case to the Illinois Prisoner Review Board in Springfield, Ill., on Jan. 11.

Thompson was a transient black man who was wrongly convicted, according to the release. At the review board hearing, law enforcement officers who helped prove Thompson's innocence will testify on his behalf in an effort to get his record wiped clean.

The Downstate Illinois Innocence Project evaluates and investigates cases for credible claims of an Illinois inmate's actual innocence, and sometimes provide legal representation for inmates. The project also encourages reforms toward preventing the conviction of innocent people in the future and educates the public about wrongful convictions.

The exoneration is "clearing his name and showing justice has been done and making Illinois say it did something wrong," said Nicole LaForte, a Southern Illinois University law student and intern with the project. While researching Krajcir, LaForte came across Thompson's case and thought Illinois should realize it had done something wrong.

"Wrongful convictions are not a fluke and happen all the time," LaForte said. "He served 15 years for something he didn't do and we need to realize that."

Pertinent address:

Springfield, IL