In 1988, Bill Clutter began work on the re-trial of Alex Hernandez after the Illinois Supreme Court vacated his first conviction. Bill worked for Springfield criminal defense attorney Michael Metnick, who volunteered his services pro bono.

Author Scott Turow called the Nicarico case "the most extraordinary criminal case I know."

DuPage County police and prosecutors railroaded two innocent Hispanics. They continued to obstruct justice even after the Illinois State Police obtained the confession of the real killer.

It would take another 10 years to free Hernandez and Cruz, but only after police perjury of a fabricated confession was finally exposed.

Bill's investigation linked physical evidence tying the real killer to the crime scene.

In 1999, police and prosecutors were brought to trial for their misconduct, but were acquitted.

In 2005, the real killer, Brian Dugan was finally charged for the murder of Jeanine Nicarico, 23 years after the crime. On Nov. 11, 2009, the jury handed down a dearth verdict.

Excerpt from Victim's of Justice

Metnick knew that defense lawyers by nature have a difficult time representing innocent clients. Usually, defense lawyers won't cast about indiscriminately for new information because they donít want to turn up something damaging that can be used against their clients. Instead, defense lawyers focus on attacking the prosecution case.

This case, however, needed as much probing as possible, Metnick believed. The more information he uncovered, the better for Alex. Metnick turned to Springfield investigator Bill Clutter. . . He took Clutter into the law firm's conference room and showed him the case file.

"It was just unbelievably huge," Clutter recalled. "It was bigger than anything else we had ever done. Usually, when we get a case, it might take up an accordion file. If it is a really big case, it might take up two accordion files. But this was banker box after banker box."

Clutter started by combing through the files, and soon found the report by Warren Wilkosz in which he documented having investigated Dugan after Dugan was arrested for Melissa Ackerman's murder. Prior to that, nobody on the defense side had realized that Wilkosz had investigated Dugan.

Clutter met with Gary Johnson, Thomas McCulloch, Randy Garrett, and Naperville police chief Jim Teal. He re-interviewed witnesses and talked to prosecutors. He went to the Prairie Path and to the church where the secretary had seen Dugan. He also found out that plaster casts had been taken of tire tracks on the Prairie Path. Prosecutor Robert Kilander had told Ed Cisowski there was nothing of evidentiary value from the Prairie Path, so the State Police had not examined the casts while they still had Brian Dugan's car. Now, in the summer of 1989, Clutter insisted on seeing them. Then he persuaded the State Police to examine them. A test identified the tracks as coming from Goodyear Viva glass-belted tires, which were the original tires on Dugan's Volare. The car itself, though, by now had been crushed and was no longer available for comparison.