Rauner grants posthumous clemency to wrongfully convicted man who died in prison

By Associated Press

wrongful_conviction_illinois_81132436_e1547576160234.jpg — This August 1993 file photo from the Illinois Department of Corrections via The Southern Illinoisan shows Grover Thompson in the Menard Correctional Center in Dwight, Ill. Just days before he left office former Gov. Bruce Rauner granted posthumous clemency to Thompson, the deceased Illinois prisoner convicted in a stabbing, to which serial killer Timothy Krajcir later confessed to committing. The Illinois Innocence Project at the University of Illinois in Springfield says Thompson received the first posthumous exoneration in Illinois history. (Illinois Department of Corrections via The Southern Illinoisan via AP, File)

Just days before he left office, former Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner granted posthumous clemency to a man imprisoned for a stabbing that a serial killer later confessed to committing.

The Illinois Innocence Project at the University of Illinois in Springfield says Grover Thompson received the first posthumous exoneration in state history. Illinois Prisoner Review Board spokesman Jason Sweat said Tuesday that Rauner granted Thompson executive clemency on Friday.

The Innocence Project plans a 2 p.m. news conference, which Thompson’s nephew is expected to attend.

Thompson died in 1996 while serving a 40-year sentence for the attempted 1981 murder of 72-year-old Ida White in Mount Vernon. In 2007 serial killer Timothy Krajcir (CRY-chur) confessed to stabbing White.

Rauner denied Thompson clemency in 2015.

Next Up In Politics

Chicago Teachers Union tries to bulldoze through Springfield on selective schools bill — and loses

Mayor Brandon Johnson's $1.25B borrowing plan sails through City Council

City Council OKs $70 million in extra funding for migrant crisis

Kim Foxx won't take sides on request by man facing rape trial for 'certificate of innocence' in murder case

'Deceptive' real estate firm tied to Loop's Monroe Capital sued by Kwame Raoul

Democratic convention events getting Chicago treatment with new hospitality vendors