The Long Road

Newlyweds Are Murdered. Now, 20 Years Later, Were The Convicted Men Guilty?

(CBS)  The 1986 wedding pictures of Dyke and Karen Rhoads show a predictably joyous young couple, ready for a wonderful life together in the small town of Paris, Ill.

Karen was 24 when they married, and had a job as an office assistant at a factory; Dyke worked in landscaping. There was no hint that just months after their wedding their lives would come to a violent end.

As correspondent Susan Spencer reports, in the early morning hours of July 6, 1986, a fire engulfed their home.

"My dad came over at 6 o'clock in the morning. I never will forget that. And he told me they had been killed," remembers Dyke's brother Tony. "He told me about their house burning. So we just naturally assumed they died in the fire, and it wasn’t until two o'clock that afternoon that we found out they had been stabbed or murdered."

Justice moved quickly. Within a year, two men were arrested and convicted of the crime: 41-year-old Herb Whitlock, a part-time construction worker and small-time drug dealer, and his pal, Randy Steidl, 35, who also worked in construction and had several convictions for assault.

Prosecutors said the motive for the killing was a drug deal gone bad.

Both men said they were innocent, but no one was listening. That is until 1999, when journalism professor David Protess of Northwestern University gave his students the Rhoads murder as a class project. He told them to re-investigate the crime. To him, at least, the case didn’t add up.

Protess has led classes on such projects before, investigating old crimes, and in ten cases they have produced evidence which helped free innocent men.

The job of finding the truth about the Rhoads case fell to students Kirsten Searer, Diane Haag, Greg Jonsson and Krista Larson.

Their professor admitted to having qualms about sending his students on this mission. "If that’s the case and the two wrong guys are behind bars that means the actual killer or killers are roaming free," Protess told his students. "Number one, you’re not going to stay anywhere in the immediate vicinity of the town. Number two, you’re not going to tell any of the sources you talked to where you’re staying. Number three, I don’t want you to stay in the same place more than two nights in a row."

For the next nine months, the students would spend most weekends on the road, making the 180-mile trip from Chicago to the small town of Paris.

They would plow through police reports and court records to track down new leads and old witnesses wherever they could find them. The students interviewed dozens of people for their project.

Over and over again, the students recreated the crime scene in their minds, going back to that Fourth of July holiday weekend. "Dyke and Karen were sleeping in bed. The people came in. They attacked Dyke first, stabbing him in the back. Karen had time to wake up and maybe grab her glasses off her night stand, and then she was stabbed herself, mostly in the chest," explains Greg Jonsson.

Blood everywhere, but on the suspects.

"This young couple was tragically stabbed over 50 times. These men would’ve been covered in blood. There would’ve been blood in their automobiles, there would have been blood on their clothes. There would have been hair, fiber, something that linked them to the crime scene. Nothing did," says Protess.

Remarkably, the professor's skepticism is shared even by Dyke Rhoads’ own family. "We weren’t 100 percent convinced that they were the ones who did it," says Tony.

Their doubt is based on both the lack of physical evidence and on the supposed motive. The prosecutors said it was a drug deal gone bad, a theory Tony will not accept. But Dyke had met Whitlock half a dozen times, according to the testimony of a friend who had bought cocaine from Whitlock.

Tony says his brother Dyke was an occasional pot smoker and that Karen never used any drugs. "There’s a big difference between somebody who’s an occasional pot smoker and somebody who gets involved in with a drug deal that’s gone bad, that’s going cost you your life," says Tony.

The students also doubt the drug deal theory, but finding holes in this case wasn’t as easy as it first seemed, because the juries heard from two people who said they had actually been there.

[tbone6648]

How can a Police Dept representing the state be so incompetent. This corrupted police dept has not only caused pain to the wrongly accused but also to the family of the victims who are seeking justice. I think it is the least this police department owes them. How they could still consider the wrongly accused suspects shows how incompetent they truly are. This story brought tears to my eyes and outraged me so much I just had to coment.

[irisheyes555]

Rarely do small town police departments have enough experience or resources to do a really excellent investigation and may "settle" for an easy arrest and conviction. Unfortunately, it happens a lot. Look at the Innocence Project. They have exonerated many convicted murderers, and while I do not know how many of those exonerated people are from small towns, I''d bet they comprise a great percentage. The point is that law enforcement often does not investigate all leads, and make a theory on who killed the victim(s) based on building a case early on, rather than investigating any and all leads. This is exactly what happened to John and Patsy Ramsey with the death of their daughter, JonBenet. Boulder law enforcement had very little experience in murder investigations and came off looking like the Keystone Cops, and the Ramseys lived their lives under suspicion from then on. I know this is true: I''m from there. The Ramseys were eventually exonerated as suspects in a court of law, but the media paid very little attention to it, and the real murderer went free and is free to this day.

[cozumelcuz]

There is a black man named Carlton Gary on Georgia''s death row. He has been there since 1986. Gary was railroaded by Columbus Police and two racist, overzealous young DA''s. It took six years after the torture and strangling of those seven elderly white women, to find a scape goat that they could pin it on...somebody PLEASE go down to Columbus, GA and open up that Pandora''s box...that case has never gotten from under the rug that it was swept under...nobody has ever heard about the Case of the Columbus Stocking Strangler...it is time for the media to go down there and ask and keep asking questions.

[wantingtruth]

Since the case is now reopened, I''d like to know if anyone is actively investigating this case. It it is being investigated - is ts being done by the local police, State Police or Feds?

[garuleb52]

This story is one of many that I have tuned into because I am a victim - of a victim - of injustice. The work of the Northwestern students guided by their college instructor is becoming noticeably common in our communities and vital to overturn the injustice that happens so often. Now this injustice may not always be obvious. An appeal typically focuses on 4 main issues. Mis-actions by the court (judge), the prosecutor, defense counsel and the jury. However, these appeals are extremely confined in scope and do not allow the appellate courts the freedom and impetus to grant a new trial, much less a reversal of the conviction. They are weighted by a common thread in our lives. The ridiculous amounts of money required to properly appeal a wrongful conviction is a pity on the men (and women) who were improperly served by the legal system. If you don''t have it, you then become society''s victim of a victim of injustice. And again, this injustice revolves around any of the 4 parts of the pie. I plan on monitoring this website and comments area. If you would register and login to post your comment, we can continue this communication and find a way to right what might be wrong.

[onlyoneruby]

This kind of incident is sadly all to common and hedious in this day in this country. Two innocent men and their families have litrally been tortured for over 2 decades. Over zealous procecuters, incompetent investigators and corrupt government need to be held "ACCOUNTABLE" in such incidents, they need to know that when they fail to do their jobs properly that they will be held accountable and they will pay for their crime''s and make no mistake, it is a crime. Prosecuter''s are suppose to seek truth and justice not simply get a conviction, a win, this is a disgusting mentality to have in our justice system and it needs to be addressed. It''s unacceptable that this kind of thing happens frequently in the greatest nation on earth. All of our heads should be hung in shame and disgrace for allowing this type of injustice, so flagrant, to continually occur. Our law maker''s need to set some standards and consequences to deal with these issues, it should have been done already. "ACCOUNTABILITY", "ETHICS", "INTEGRITY", "MORALITY" and let''s add, "COMMON DECENCY" are NOT just words. People, wake up, this could have been you! YOU could be the next victim of this type of "CRIME", think about it! Who would save you? How long would it take? What would it cost you? your family? Maybe we should inact preventative measures NOW...

[mary227]

Thank you to David Protess and to CBS.
What bothers me is the lack of accountability that the legal profession has and the low standards of conduct it holds itself to.
In many cases which are overturned there is prosecutorial malfeasance, especially including exculpatory evidence that is not turned over to the defense. Yet, how often do the stories finish with the prosecutors losing their licenses or even being diciplined? Amost Never. Examples like Nifong in the Duke Lacrosse case should be the rule. Instead they are the very rare exception...and probably only happened in the Lacrosse case because of the power and connections of Duke and the parents, their wealth and the notoriety of the case.
Judges fail us too, over and over. Where is the demand of the profession for studies which show that given the same set of circumstances most judges will make the same decisions? Why doesn''t the legal profession demand this of itself?
Until the legal system demands more of itself and can demonstrate such, I cannot participate as a juror.

[lynne_m1]

Pitiful that these men spent so many years in prison for a crime they did not commit, while the real killer(killers) are roaming the earth somewhere. I wonder what this new investigation will find and those officers that investigated this the first time, I wonder how they sleep at night knowing that they did a horrible job and that a group of "STUDENTS" did better than they did! I hope the families get the answers they so deserve after all these years.

My only hope would be that when Karen saw what she had seen in that parking lot, which made her so afraid, that she did mention names.

[bcolvin24]

Any reason why these innocent people have refused to have lie detector exams? Never has been mentioned.

[rd22261]

Good story 3/1/2008, but need to go much deeper. All this info has been there for quite some time. Morgan(Karen''s boss)is into it up to his neck and so is states attorney in covering it up. A resident told me that when he first moved to Paris before the murder that he was told that this attorney in town had the best drugs! Before he was states attorney. Check out his background. Few years before the Rhoads murder there was a deputy killed by train. This was drug related too. He was dead before train got to him. Pizza Connection drug case ring any bells in relation to Paris,IL? Back to Morgan, Donations to campaign of now imprisoned George Ryan. Ex-Gov of IL. Too politically sensitive ? Ryan shreaded most all the papers of his office when he left both the Sec of states office and the Gov office. Top official of Jesse Whites office can confirm this. They saw it both times. The politics of Paris have been dirty for 30-40 yrs at least.

[awinslow2]

The two eye witnesses appear to be of questionable character. Motive appears to be very important in this case. The case could be drug related or be related to what Karen witnessed. I''m not convinced either way. Further investigation relating to the company she worked for may yield significant information or eliminate suspects outside the community.

[fdering]

48 Hours Mystery keeps getting better all the time, and it was always great! You really outdid yourselves on March 2nd with the story about the young couple and the two men who were wrongfully convicted for their murder.

[mitchbolin]

Yes, it is so very sad! Two years ago, My son Berry Bolin was charged and convicted of voluntary manslaughter with no evidence. He couldn''t have a fair trial because the investigation was not fair. If you can help or know someone that can please contact me @ [e-mail]

[mitchbolin]

Yes, it is so very sad! Two years ago, My son Berry Bolin was charged and convicted of voluntary manslaughter with no evidence. He couldn''t have a fair trial because the investigation was not fair. If you can help or know someone that can please contact me @ [e-mail]

[luannb1]

Berry Bolin is my nephew. Everything about his conviction was unfair and very wrong! York County failed to properly investigate from the start and the solicitor set out for a conviction and used this case to set an example to young people in the community. Please if anyone can help, contact us @ [e-mail]

[kevnrm-2009]

My cousin Berry Bolin was wrongfully convicted of voluntary manslaughter. While at a friends residence, A group of people that had made numerous threats arrived starting a fight. One of these people having a bond restriction preventing him from being within so many feet of the owner of the residence. The police ignored that fact among many others. They had no evidence to convict Berry of this crime. I sat through the trial and have seen guilty people walk out of the court room with more evidence than that! Again, if you or anyone you know can help please contact us @ [e-mail]

[garuleb52]

NOTICE: I posted a comment back on 3/2/08. I haven''t thoroughly read everybody''s comments, but does anybody know where and how we can influence (and I mean INFLUENCE!) the Courts (here in North Carolina)? They should give my son''s case the attention it deserves and study how the legal system is working.

[rad1025]

I must say after reading all the comments here that pertain to the issue, that few of the readers have a grasp on the realities of our justice system.
One comments that the investigators should be embarassed.
I only saw one investigator mentioned, and I doubt, at the time this took place, if Paris, Il. had more than one investigator.
Almost every ill of our system can be traced to one thing. Lack of money, or the realities of municiplal budgets. It is the same thing.
Statistically speaking, for every 7 convicted inmates in our sytem one is innocent. With almost 4 million people involved in our nations prison system that translates into a lot of innocent people in jail.
As our municipalities find themselves awash in a sea of crime, they have to cope in the best way they can, and that translates into shortcuts.
If the Police tell the DA they think this man did it, the DA doesn''t really have the time or the resources to challenge that, and as most of the time (6 out of 7 anyway) they are right the DA''s actually believe they are persuing the correct individuals.
Then it becomes a game. They must do X to get the convition. How many cases each week? Each month? Each year? Do you honestly believe anyone can feel compasion for an endless stream of names?
One death is a tragedy, a million deaths is a statistic.