Twin Killing? Convict Confesses, Says Cops Got Wrong Twin For 2003 Murder: Report

A convict serving a 99-year sentence testified that he was the one who committed a murder that put his twin brother in prison more than 10 years ago, the Chicago Tribune has reported.

"I'm here to confess to a crime I committed that he was wrongly accused of," Karl Smith, 38, claimed from a witness stand in the Leighton Criminal Court Building.

Smith is doing his 99 year sentence at Pontiac Correctional Center for attempted murder, aggravated battery with a firearm, aggravated battery to a child, armed robbery and home invasion. In January 2008, he and two others forced their way into an apartment on Chicago’s West Side. During ensuing the attack, a 6-year-old was shot in the head. The child’s father was also shot, as well as beaten and stabbed.

Five years later, Smith’s twin brother, Kevin Dugar, was sentenced to 54 years in prison for murder, a killing that Smith now claims credit for.

The Tribune reported that Smith’s appeal of his 99 year sentence was recently shot down and that prosecutors are skeptical of his confession.

Kevin Dugar (left) and his twin brother, Karl Smith — photos via the Illinois Department of Corrections