USA - Illinois. Brian Dugan Pleaded Guilty to Crime That Sent Two Innocent Men to Death Row

Brian Dugan Pleads Guilty to Crime That Sent Two Innocent Men to Death Row. Brian Dugan pleaded guilty to the rape and murder of 10-year-old Jeanine Nicarico 25 years ago. Two other men, Rolando Cruz, and Alejandro Hernandez, were originally charged with the murder and were sentenced to death. They were eventually exonerated in 1995 after numerous trials. Dugan was not promised a life sentence in exchange for his plea and still faces a death sentence from a jury in the fall. He admitted that he alone was responsible for the murder. As early as 1985, Dugan confessed his sole responsibility for the crime, but the prosecution continued its case against Cruz and Hernandez. The case contributed to a huge upheaval of Illinois' death penalty system, finally resulting in the commutation of all death row inmates in 2003 and to a moratorium on executions that continues to the present time.