The television newsmagazine "48 Hours" has followed Medill graduate students Kirsten Searer, Krista Larson, Greg Jonsson and Medill senior Diane Haag since they took the case in September. The show will air a documentary of their search for justice at 9 p.m. tonight on CBS.
Protess said this case is one of the most exhaustive investigations he has ever seen from his students, and he thinks that the involvement of "48 Hours" could be invaluable.
The four students chose to investigate the case in September because the state of Illinois' evidence was questionable, Searer said. The case involves convictions against Herb Whitlock and Randy Steidl, both found guilty of the 1986 murder of Dyke and Karen Rhoads, newlyweds from Paris, Ill.
"We knew we'd be starting from scratch," said Searer, former managing editor of The Daily.
After canvassing neighborhoods, chasing leads and questioning possible witnesses during countless trips to Paris, the students have built a case that may disprove Steidl and Whitlock's convictions and instead connect the murders to two men from Florida.
The students found a neighbor of the Rhoades who said she saw two men in trench coats driving a white car with Florida license plates the day before and the day of the murders. This woman called in the fire that covered up the murders, but she was never questioned by police. She told the students that the day before the murders, she saw the men pointing at the Rhoads' house. And the day of the murder, she saw the men drive by the same house at least 10 times.
The team also interviewed a gas station attendant who said he sold 21 gallons of gasoline to two men in a white car with Florida plates the day of the murder. That same night, a convenience store clerk sold a sandwich to a man in a car matching the other two descriptions.
In addition to these three witnesses, the students said they have found weaknesses in the prosecution's timeline. The prosecution said that the murders happened between midnight and 1 a.m., the only window of time that Steidl and Whitlock do not have alibis.
However, according to Larson, a friend of the Rhoadses saw the couple alive at 12:15 a.m., leaving only a 45-minute window for the murders.
Jonsson said the testimonies of the prosecution's two main witnesses, a convicted drunk driver and a then-admitted drug addict and alcoholic, show that the murders probably could not have happened in 45 minutes because too many events took place in that short amount of time.
"None of this (new evidence) is a smoking gun, but that's why the CBS show is so important," said Jonsson, a Daily staffer.
The students believe their work has cast a reasonable shadow of doubt, and they think the publicity on "48 Hours" will help their cause.
"We hope this will get people to come forward with new information," Larson said.
Added Protess: "The truth not only has to be found. It also has to be told."
