An Illinois man sentenced to 26 years in prison for rape in 1992 was cleared of his charges Tuesday, 25 years later.
Authorities declared that there was no physical evidence linking William “Bill” Carini to the sexual assault of a woman who had fallen asleep in her car on the side of the Tri-State Tollway, according to the Chicago Tribune.
Michael Nerheim, a Lake County state attorney, announced in December that forensic testing for the rape case conducted last fall did not match Carini.
Carini, 53, will not be released from prison because he was found guilty in 2002 of killing his uncle John Kuba and childhood friend Joanne Seaquist in 1985. Carini is appealing this case as well, according to the Chicago Tribune.
“If I had to drive or walk, I would’ve been here,” said Ruthe Wille, Carini’s 74-year-old mother who flew in from Las Vegas. “Because my son has been wrongfully locked up for 25 years for something he didn’t do — and we know he didn’t do. And they lied and framed him.”
Wille completed paralegal classes at the College of Lake County, and also paid for her son’s legal representation
Authorities narrowed down the perpetrators by analyzing the physical traits described by the woman who was resting in her car before being sexually assaulted at knifepoint. Carini was ultimately charged due to how close he lived to the crime scene and his past criminal record, even though he had a corroborated alibi from his stepfather and there was no physical evidence.
Carini is the seventh person cleared of rape or murder in Lake County since 2010, according to the Chicago Tribune.
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