Death Row Exoneree Randy Steidl Shares His Story

Today, the State-Journal Register in Springfield, Illinois published an op-ed by death row exoneree, Randy Steidl.

Randy Steidl was exonerated after wrongfully spending 17 years in prison, and twelve on death row, for the murders of Dyke and Karen Rhoads in Paris, Illinois, a crime he did not commit. He was exonerated through the work of the Center on Wrongful Convictions at Northwestern. He is one of the twenty innocent people exonerated from death row in Illinois since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. Since being exonerated, Randy has been working to end the death penalty not only in the state of Illinois where he was wrongfully convicted, but throughout the country.

Read Randy’s story and his call for the repeal of the death penalty here.

As Randy calls for us to do, “Together, we can turn my personal tragedy into our collective triumph.” And the best way for you to help repeal the death penalty in Illinois is by getting involved at ICADP, so be sure to become a member today by clicking here.

Written by Reema Mohini who is the Program and Development Coordinator at ICADP. She is working with ICADP through the Lutheran Volunteer Corp and will be the main contributor for the blog through August.