Family appalled by planned clemency hearing for man convicted of 1985 murder of 16-year-old Bridget Drobney
CHICAGO (CBS) -- It has been almost 40 years since the rape and murder of 16-year-old Bridget Drobney.
Fast forward to today, and her family is outraged yet again – this time at the possibility that one of her killers could be released.
As CBS 2 Political Investigator Dana Kozlov reported Wednesday, the Parole Board is set to hold a clemency hearing for convict Robert G. Turner in Chicago in January.
For Bridget's family, even the suggestion that he could get out of prison is like putting in the knife again and twisting it.
Bridget was from Downers Grove, but the murder happened downstate. Cathy Drobney showed Kozlov the last picture her then 16-year-old daughter would ever have taken – before the family went to a wedding in Gillespie, Illinois in downstate Macoupin County.
Days later on July 13, 1985, Bridget was driving alone to the family wedding when three men pretending to be police officers activated an oscillating red light and pulled over the teen. The men abducted, raped, and murdered Bridget in a cornfield.
"It never goes away," said Cathy Drobney. "It really doesn't."
At his trial, Turner's sister testified he told her Bridget was making noise – so he stabbed her.
"The noise that she was making – he said, 'She was making too much noise, so I stuck her' – she was calling for her father," said Bridget's sister, Jamie Drobney.
"Daddy, help me," Cathy Drobney quoted her daughter in distress.
But now, the pain is fresh again for Bridget's family – after they learned Turner – the man convicted of stabbing Bridget – may get out of prison.
"With every cell in our body, we oppose it," said Kelly Drobney Weaver. "We want it to go away – be done with this. We don't want him to have a clemency hearing. We want it canceled. We don't want to have to keep reliving this."
The Drobney family said they never thought they would have to go through a clemency hearing for Turner.
"I think I had more faith in our judicial system than what it is," said Bridget's sister-in-law, Barb Drobney.
Turner had been on Death Row for 16 years in 2003 when then-Gov. George Ryan commuted the sentence of all Illinois Death Row inmates. Turner's death sentence became a sentence of life in prison.
"So this clemency is just like, you want to give in again? You want us to give him another avenue for another life?" said Barb Drobney. "He's already got that avenue – the first one – by getting off of Death Row."
A group called the Illinois Prison Project is backing Turner's clemency petition – but there is a lot of opposition. Current and former Macoupin County state's attorneys wrote letters urging the Illinois Prisoner Review B Board to deny clemency.
Former Macoupin County State's Attorney Edmond Rees wrote that Turner is an "cruel man without conscious (sic)." Current State's Attorney Jordan Garrison wrote, "The list of equitable factors which justify clemency is enormous. In the long list of factors to be considered, Robert Turner's case possesses none."
A Change.org petition also asked to have the clemency hearing for Turner canceled.
"He was 29 years old, and to say, 'She was making too much noise, so I stuck her,' when he stabbed her in the throat – that is evil," said Jamie Drobney. "That doesn't change."
"If the governor does grant his clemency, he's sending a message to the people of Illinois," said Kelly Drobney Weaver. "He's sending a message that says it's okay to murder children in our state."
The heads of the Illinois Prison Project said they are representing Turner in part because he is a veteran and wrote them a letter. But the head of the organization would not discuss the specifics of the case or the details of Bridget's murder.
The clemency hearing for Turner is set for Jan. 10 at the Isadore and Sadie Dorin Forum at the University of Illinois at Chicago – having been postponed two other times. Bridget's family plans to be there in force.
