True-Crime Author to Speak at Elmhurst Public Library

Submitted by the Elmhurst Public Library.

Elmhurst, IL - Author William B. Crawford, a Pulitzer Prize-winning Chicago Tribune reporter, comes to Elmhurst Public Library on Feb. 15 at 7 p.m. to discuss his recent book, “Justice Perverted: How the Innocence Project at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism Sent an Innocent Man to Prison.”

In 1983, a man and woman were brutally murdered near Chicago’s Washington Park swimming pool. Anthony Porter was convicted of shooting the pair at point-blank range and sentenced to death.

Just 50 hours before Porter’s scheduled execution, the Illinois Supreme Court granted a stay. Northwestern University’s Innocence Project, known for exonerating wrongfully convicted individuals through DNA testing, took up Porter’s cause. As a result, Porter was released from prison and another man, Alstory Simon was subsequently convicted of the homicides.

In a dramatic twist, Simon was exonerated of the crime. He is suing Northwestern University and journalism professor David Protess for more than $40 million in punitive damages.

Fans of true-crime stories like Making a Murderer and Serial will be riveted by Crawford’s account of good intentions gone wrong and the flawed legal system surrounding both Porter’s and Simon’s cases.

Register online, in person or by phone. For more information, visit elmlib.org/justice.