Indictment in 1983 child murder case

WHEATON, Ill., Nov. 29 (UPI) -- Prosecutors Tuesday indicted convicted murderer Brian Dugan for the slaying of 10-year-old Jeanine Nicarico in suburban Chicago 22 years ago.

Dugan, 49, had refused to make a formal confession to the crime because prosecutors would not rule out seeking capital punishment. He was named in a 15-indictment by DuPage County state's attorney Joe Birkett, who said he would seek the death penalty, WLS-TV, Chicago, reported.

Birkett said advances in DNA technology had made the indictment possible so long after the crime. "The past is the past. We're going forward," said Birkett. "This indictment is about the evidence available now, today."

Nicarico was kidnapped, raped and killed Feb. 25, 1983, in Naperville, Ill., in a case that put Illinois' death penalty in the national spotlight. Two men, Rolando Cruz and Alejandro Hernandez, were convicted of the crime in 1985, condemned to death and both were later exonerated.