Slain teen's family wants state to turn down convicted killer's bid for clemency
CHICAGO (CBS)-- A man convicted of killing a Downers Grove teen nearly 40 years ago is asking the Illinois Prisoner Review Board to let him out of prison.
CBS 2's Charlie De Mar reports the family of 16-year-old Bridget Drobney's spoke at the clemency hearing for convicted killer Robert G. Turner, urging the Illinois Prisoner Review Board to keep him behind bars.
On July 13, 1985, Bridget was driving alone to a family wedding when three men pretending to be police officers activated an oscillating red light and pulled her over. The men abducted, raped, and murdered Bridget in a cornfield.
Turner was convicted in the stabbing, and was on death row for 16 years, before his sentence was changed to life in prison in 2003, when then-Gov. George Ryan commuted the sentences of every Illinois inmate on death row. The death penalty has since been abolished in Illinois.
A group called the Illinois Prison Project is backing Turner's petition for clemency petition.
"Cases like Mr. Turner's are exactly why clemency was created – to acknowledge that people grow, that they can be redeemed, and that 40 years in prison no longer serves anyone," said Candace Chambliss, with the Illinois Prison Project.
But Bridget's family is deeply opposed. At Turner's clemency hearing Tuesday morning, Bridget's mother and sister gave an emotional plea for him to stay in prison. Her family said Turner has never shown any remorse, and has been working to get out of prison since the day he was incarcerated.
"I feel confident, because a lot of the information was presented in a good manner. I was kind of canvassing the people that were on the board, and they seemed to be really concerned about what we were saying. So I'm hoping that that goes a long way. Again, we'll all have to be patient and wait for that outcome, but I'm feeling good. I think we all are," Bridget's brother, George Drobney, said after the hearing.
The family, from Downers Grove, and prosecutors have written letters to urge the board to deny clemency. They are outraged at the chance he could be released.
After Tuesday's hearing, the board will review Turner's case and send a confidential recommendation to the governor, who will make the final decision on clemency.
