Nancy Rish To Make New Bid For Clemency In 1987 Murder Case
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A woman who has long maintained she took no part in an infamous 1987 kidnapping and murder in Kankakee was set to make another bid to get out of prison on Tuesday.
WBBM Newsradio's Bernie Tafoya reports 52-year-old Nancy Rish has spent more than half her life in prison, after she was convicted of helping her boyfriend Danny Edwards lure 40-year-old Stephen Small from his home and bury him alive in a plywood coffin.
The two were accused of plotting to kidnap Small, a wealthy businessman, and hold him for a $1 million ransom, but pipes that were supposed to supply Small with air while he was in a 3-by-6 wooden box did not work, and he suffocated before any ransom demand was made.
Rish has always maintained she did not know what Edwards was up to, but she was convicted at a separate trial and sentenced to life in prison.
On Tuesday, the Illinois Prisoner Review Board was scheduled to hear Rish's bid for clemency, and make a recommendation to Gov. Pat Quinn.