Part 11: In memoriam
Dick Cunningham loved music. He memorized lyrics and knew who played what instrument on which album. He loved show tunes, Sinatra, Elvis Costello. His favorite was Bob Dylan. On record...
All Stories
Part 10: His last two days
Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2001 The day before he died was one of the best days of Dick Cunningham's life. At last, it seemed, all he had worked for was coming...
Part 9: Sunrise
After the State of Illinois executed Durlyn Eddmonds in the pre-dawn hours of Nov. 1997, Dick Cunningham went home and waited for the sun to rise. He had defended Eddmonds...
Part 8: Execution
On Nov. 18, 1997, hours before an executioner would release poison into Durlyn Eddmonds' blood, Dick Cunningham sat with Eddmonds inside Joliet's Stateville prison, trying to comfort the man he...
Part 7: ‘A pelican on his head’
Jesse Cunningham was always his father's son. He was smart and sure, just like his dad. Dick and Jesse Cunningham loved sports and politics, loved to argue, and were always...
THE TRIALS OF DICK CUNNINGHAM
Jesse Cunningham was always his father's son. He was smart and sure, just like his dad. Dick and Jesse Cunningham loved sports and politics, loved to argue, and were always...
Part 6: ‘The far limb of the law’
When Dick Cunningham went to court in October of 1994 and said he would be filing a motion for DNA testing, the request seemed simple enough. Here was Ronald Jones,...
Part 5: The Hall of Dulah
In the spring of 1991, Dick Cunningham went before one set of examiners while his son Jesse went before another. Jesse, a high school senior, entered an academic competition in...
Part 4: ‘Bona fide doubt,’ the three magic words
Born in 1952, the fourth of six children, Durlyn Eddmonds was, even as a child, different. His sisters said he appeared to live in his own world. He was especially...
Part 3: Intervention, a day of reckoning
When Dick Cunningham walked up those stairs and through the door, he had no idea what awaited him on the other side. But the second he saw them -- friends...