Torture investigator Boyle dead at 71

CHICAGO, Dec. 1 (UPI) -- Lawyer Robert Boyle, who investigated reports of alleged torture by Chicago police, has died of an apparent heart attack at the age of 71.

The Chicago Sun-Times reported Saturday that Boyle, who once headed up the criminal division for the Cook County state's attorney's office, died peacefully in his sleep Thursday in Lincolnwood, Ill.

Paired with retired Judge Edward Egan, Boyle gained notoriety in recent years for investigating allegations that police detectives had used torture to garner confessions from suspects in the 1980s.

While the duo reportedly found evidence torture had been used in some of those instances, the statute of limitations for the alleged crimes had expired.

Those who fought Boyle in a court of law remembered him as an honest man.

"He was an honest, upright prosecutor," retired appellate Justice Eugene Pincham told the Sun-Times. "I can say nothing but the best about him."

Boyle is survived by his wife Mary Joan, six children and 14 grandchildren.