IAPE Evidence Blog

The Chicago Tri­bune
BYLINE: Art Bar­num, Tri­bune reporter, abarnum@tribune.com
Link to Article

Chicago, IL

Trial of deaf man in girlfriend’s fatal stab­bing may involve up to 3 sign-language interpreters

Gary Albert was arrested in 2008 and charged with killing his preg­nant girl­friend in 1981. (March 6, 2008)

Dawn Niles was last seen alive March 17, 1981, when she left Hins­dale South High School with her boyfriend Gary Albert.

Five days later, a fish­er­man found her body in a south­west sub­ur­ban Cook County for­est pre­serve. The 15-year-old La Grange Park girl, three months’ preg­nant, had been stabbed repeat­edly, author­i­ties said.

Now, 30 years later, Albert, 48, of Sugar Grove, faces mur­der charges for the slay­ing with a trial date expected to be set later this sum­mer. He was charged with first-degree mur­der in 2008, after his DNA was linked to the victim’s body, accord­ing to Cook County sheriff’s police.

The trial is expected to present a num­ber of logis­ti­cal issues for both pros­e­cu­tors and defense because the defen­dant and some of the wit­nesses are hearing-impaired. A recent pre­trial hear­ing raised the pos­si­bil­ity of using as many as three sign lan­guage inter­preters at the same time.

Niles and Albert belonged to the high school’s drama club for the deaf and the local chap­ter of the Junior Illi­nois Asso­ci­a­tion for the Deaf.

Pros­e­cu­tors plan to present state­ments Niles allegedly made to friends that Albert not only knew about her preg­nancy, but that they fought over it. She report­edly told friends that Albert didn’t want to take respon­si­bil­ity for the child and sug­gested she tell her par­ents that she had either been raped or impreg­nated by some­one else, accord­ing to court filings.

A defense lawyer for Albert calls those state­ments improper hearsay and argued against them, claim­ing they “infuse undue prej­u­dice,” records show.

Albert has pleaded not guilty, and his lawyer has argued in pre­trial motions that it can’t be proved that Albert was aware of the preg­nancy and that he had no motive to com­mit such a crime.

Arrested in 2008 at his Sugar Grove home, Albert was ques­tioned for seven hours by Cook County sheriff’s police, who were aided by a Chicago police offi­cer versed to some degree in sign lan­guage, accord­ing to records.

Albert’s defense attor­neys argued unsuc­cess­fully in pre­trial motions that the Chicago offi­cer wasn’t pro­fi­cient enough to be con­sid­ered legally qual­i­fied in Amer­i­can Sign Lan­guage to make sure that Albert under­stood his Miranda rights as well as assist in the interrogation.

The defense attor­neys also argued that police shouldn’t have talked to Albert at all, because his “invo­ca­tion (of remain­ing silent) was clear and unam­bigu­ous for 27 years.”

Albert, who was work­ing as a pack­ager at a Gen­eral Mills plant in West Chicago at the time of his arrest, is free on $1 mil­lion bail.

In April 2005 he pleaded guilty to unlaw­ful video­tap­ing of his step­daugh­ter, a mis­de­meanor, court records show. Albert was ordered by a judge to undergo a psy­chi­atric eval­u­a­tion and pay for the girl’s counseling.

Niles’ sis­ter Heather Hun­ziker in 2006 helped per­suade Cook County sheriff’s police to take another look at the case.

This time, with the assis­tance of DNA tech­nol­ogy and new inter­views, a Cook County grand jury indicted Albert on first-degree mur­der charges in 2008.

Dr. Robert Kirschner, a now-deceased Cook County deputy med­ical exam­iner, per­formed the autopsy on the teenager and pre­served a semen sam­ple on a vagi­nal swab, court records show.

The DNA match allegedly places Albert with Niles about the time of her dis­ap­pear­ance, sheriff’s police said.

“It’s still a very rough time,” said Hun­ziker, who plans to attend the trial with fam­ily mem­bers. “Noth­ing has changed since his arrest.”

PHOTOS:

Eric Caine: Released after 25 years in prison
Eric Caine, who says he was beaten into con­fess­ing to a dou­ble mur­der by detec­tives under dis­graced for­mer Chicago police Cmdr. Jon Burge, was released from prison on Thurs­day, March 17, 2011, a quar­ter of a cen­tury after his arrest in 1986. Caine, arrested in 1986 for the mur­der of an elderly cou­ple, was ordered released by a Cook County judge on the same day Burge reported to fed­eral prison.

Out the door — Eric Caine (far right), walks out of the Menard Cor­rec­tional Cen­ter with his legal team while his girl­friend, Sara Bush, waits for their reunion. (David Pierini, Tri­bune / March 17, 2011)

Wel­com­ing — Eric Caine, fol­lowed by his legal team, walks out of the Menard Cor­rec­tional Cen­ter into the arms of his girl­friend, Sara Bush. (David Pierini, Tri­bune / March 17, 2011)

Free kiss — Eric Caine kisses his girl­friend, Sara Bush, after walk­ing out of the Menard Cor­rec­tional Cen­ter. (David Pierini, Tri­bune / March 17, 2011)

Walk­ing away — After his release, Eric Caine (left) walks with his girl­friend Sara Bush, attor­ney Rus­sell Ainsworth and inves­ti­ga­tor Elliott Slosar. (David Pierini, Tri­bune / March 17, 2011)

Wav­ing good­bye — Eric Caine (left) and his girl­friend Sara Bush acknowl­edge a well-wisher in the park­ing lot of Menard Cor­rec­tional Cen­ter. (David Pierini, Tri­bune / March 17, 2011)

Stops to talk — Eric Caine talks after walk­ing out of the Menard Cor­rec­tional Cen­ter in Chester, Ill. (David Pierini, Tri­bune / March 17, 2011)

Eric Caine — Eric Caine talked to Tri­bune reporters in 2003 while impris­oned for a dou­ble mur­der at Menard Cor­rec­tional Facil­ity. (Abel Uribe, Chicago Tri­bune / Novem­ber 11, 2003)

Over­looked case — “I’m the for­got­ten inno­cent,” said Eric Caine in 2003 when inter­viewed by the Chicago Tri­bune at Menard Cor­rec­tional Faciltiy. Caine felt his case was lost amid the atten­tion paid to the state’s Death Row inmates. (Abel Uribe, Chicago Tri­bune / Novem­ber 11, 2003)

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