Issue date: 2/6/08 Section: Campus

Herb Whitlock is trying to adjust to life outside of prison.

Whitlock was wrongfully convicted of murder and spent 20 years in prison. Now, he's thinking about possibly opening up an antique shop. He's learning how to use a cell phone, and he finally got to meet his grandson.

Journalism Prof. David Protess, who headed the project that helped uncover evidence that led to Whitlock's release, said Whitlock just wants to lead a normal life.

About 20 years ago, a jury wrongfully convicted Whitlock of killing a woman living in Paris, Ill. He was released from jail Jan. 8.

"It felt like it had been a long time coming, but it felt like it should have happened a lot sooner," St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter Greg Jonsson said.

Jonsson was a Medill senior when he began working on the case in 1999, along with fellow Medill '00 alumni Diane Haag, Kirsten Searer and Krista Larson.

Within a year of a young couple's death, Randy Steidl and Whitlock, both construction workers, had been convicted. Whitlock received life in prison after being convicted of killing Karen Rhoads, and Steidl was convicted of killing both Rhoads and her husband, Dyke Rhoads.

In 2004, Steidl was freed after spending 12 years on death row with the help of Protess and his students. But Whitlock remained in prison until last month.

"It was a wonderful day," Protess said. "It was Herb Whitlock's day."

It began on the first day of Protess' investigative journalism class in September 1999. The journalism professor and founder of the Medill Innocence Project wrote the names of four cases on the board. One of the cases was "Steidl and Whitlock," and four students began their investigation.

Prosecutors argued that the motive was a drug deal gone awry. But Protess' students challenged this motive along with the testimony of two key eyewitnesses and the state's timeline of events.

The students spent almost every weekend of their senior year investigating the case.

Continued...

Page 1 of 2 next >

Article Tools