Convicted killer free after 26 years

CHICAGO, April 19 (UPI) -- A 54-year-old man who spent the last 26 years in an Illinois prison for a murder he says he didn't commit is free after a judge ordered a new trial.

The Chicago Tribune reported Alton Logan was released from Cook County Jail Friday after Judge James Schreier called for a new trial in his case and set bail at $1,000, a figure his family quickly paid to earn his freedom.

Defense attorney Jamie Kunz said the judge's ruling evoked emotion in those who are convinced Logan was unjustly convicted of killing a security guard in 1982.

"His family was shedding tears and so was I," Kunz said. "I've known Logan was innocent for 26 years."

Another convicted killer, Andrew Wilson, allegedly had informed his attorneys years ago that he had actually killed the security guard.

But because of attorney-client privilege and their client's insistence the truth only be revealed after his death, the attorneys were not allowed to tell authorities.

The Tribune said Wilson died Nov. 19, 2007, and the ensuing news of his alleged guilt prompted Schreier to order a new trial for Logan.