Chicago Tribune from Chicago, Illinois • Page 22

6 Section I Chicago Tribune, page 1 Wednesday, March 9. 1994 Confessions of aliened serial killer v. Wis. ish0 MICH. OTl opra eh 5 ua IND.

LfJ KY. loo Ww Miias 1 Lhl UnUeatMed nwue Rensselaer, Ind. Oct 15. 1983 i Michael Bauer; age 22 Newton County, Ind. Oct 19, 19S3 fJJ John Baftlett, age 19 Newton County, Ind.

Oct 19, 1983 I ED Unidentified mat Newton County, Ind. Oct 19, 1983 ED Unidentified male I Newton County, Ind. I Oct 19, 1983 EH Unidentified male Effingham, HI. Dec 5, 1983 ED DavM M. Block, age 22 Lake County, lit.

I May 7, 1984 ED Unidentified male Eyler's Chicago apartment June 1984 FP1 Richard Wavne. age 21 IndianapolisBelleville, Ind. Dec. 7,1984 i Fi Unidentified male Ind. Dec.

7, 1984 Victims allegedly murdered by Eyler and an accomplice. I Chicago Tribune Jimmy T. Roberta, age 18 Cook County May 9, 1983 Daniel Scott McNerve, age 21 IndianapolisBelleville, Ind. May 9, 1983 E2 Unidentified male Ford County, III. July 2, 1983 Ralph Calise.

age 28 Lake County, III. Aug. 31. 1983 Tribune photo by John Irvine Wilma McNeive and daughter Mary Himmel listen during Thursday's news conference in Naperville. McNeive's son, Daniel Scott McNeive, was 21 when his body was found in 1983 near Indianapolis.

For families, finally, the truth' Confessions come after years of grieving, uncertainty Eyler's letter to the governor Here is a letter alleged serial killer Larry Eyler wrote to then-Gov. James Thompson in 1990: Jlt uJt kkJU oLf J- On Tuesday, Larry Eytef attorney detailed confessions of 21 I murders; he allegedly committed 17 alone and four with an accomplice. Eyler died Sunday at Pontiac Correctional Center, where he was on Death Row for the 1984 murder of 15-year-old i Daniel Bridges of Uptown. Locations and dates of murders; in chronological order, Steven Crockett, age 19 Kankakee Oct 23, 1982 0 John R. Johnson, age 25 Lake County, Ind.

Dec. 25, 1982 El John Roach, age 21 Putnam County, Ind. Dec. 28, 1982 Steven Agan, age 23 Newport, Ind. Dec.

28, 1982 Edgar Underkoffer, age 27 Danville, III. March 4, 1983 LI Gustavo Herrara, age 28 Lake County, III. April 8, 1983 Ervln Dwayne Gibson, age IS Lake County, III. April 15. 1983 Source: Kathleen Zellner, Lany Eytor't attorney Eyler Continued From Page 1 erful but emotionally Insecure man in his 20s and 30s at the time of the murders who blamed his explosive behavior on his own abuse as a youngster in a household that saw five stepfathers come and go.

"He has left them a bitter, bitter legacy," she said of the families of Eyler's alleged victims and Eyler's own family. read from a list of victims given to her by Eyler before his death, and she gave details of the murders to those gathered in the glittering grand ballroom of the Naperville Holiday Inn. The crowd included the mothers of two of Eyler's alleged victims Ralph Calise and Daniel Scott McNeive. It was, as one observer remarked, the suspected serial killer's last will and testament of evil deeds. -It had been kept under wraps uihtil his death.

Zellner quoted Eyler as telling her, "I gave you everything I was capable of giving you" about his alleged murders. Eyler's alleged victims, police determined, had been strewn over a pyramid-shaped area stretching from northern Illinois to central Indiana and Illinois. The murders took place in an area that Eyler often traveled in his pickup truck between his North Side Chicago apartment and the home of a companion, college librarian Robert David Little of Terre Haute, Ind, lEyler secretly outlined his crimes as long as 3'i years ago in a jailed 1990 effort to get off Death Row and replace his sentence with oije of life in prison. ironically, Eyler claimed he had nothing to do with the murder for which he was on Death Row. The victim, teenager Daniel Bridges, was stabbed and dismembered in Eyler's apartment in 1984.

According to Zellner, Eyler took and passed a lie-detector test the crime, though he said he helped dispose of the body. Jin return for lifting the death penalty, Zellner said, Eyler had promised to tell all. it never happened back then. Not publicly anyway. But Eyler's admissions led to charges against Little in an Indiana murder case.

Hpwever, Little's trial ended in acquittal in 1991. Jn that case, Eyler testified he and Little engaged in a bondage -J I .11 Dear Governor Thompson, I -1 1 1 Highland Park, the father of David M. Block, who was 22 when his body was found in May 1984 in Lake County, declined to comment Block's grandmother, Cecile Block, 86, also of Highland Park, said she wasn't even aware that Eyler might have been responsible for the death. "We've always wondered who was responsible, who could have done such a thing," she said. "This could at least bring an end to that, but not to our pain and sorrow." For the family of another victim, the most significant news was that Eyler himself had died.

Edgar Bauer of Chicago, whose son Michael was found in a shallow grave in Newton County, in October 1983, said Tuesday's news "doesn't mean anything to me. Nothing is going to come out of it." He said he suspected it was Eyler all along, but that officials didn't have enough to prove it He added, however, Tin glad I lived long enough to see him Eyler die. The only thing that would make me feel better is if my son walked in the door. Then I would feel better." But for Pauli and McNeive, Tuesday's disclosures meant the likely end of their partnership in grief. As Zellner finished describing their sons' cases, the women held each other's hands.

"Just relax, just relax," Pauli whispered. McNeive whispered back: "It's over." Tribune reporters Maria Donate and Penny Roberts contributed to this article. complished through the legal system happened," she said. Zellner said she believes physi-. cal evidence can still be found that would help convict an accomplice.

While the victims' wallets were destroyed to prevent identification, their shirts were kept as mementos. She claimed that for a time Eyler and the accomplice hid personal effects in a Milwaukee storage locker. Finally, she was asked if Eyler had shown remorse. "I don't know if I want to credit him with that," Zellner said. lam writing to tell you that lam willing to give confessions on twenty-one murder cases in Illinois and Indiana.

Iam also willing to give evidence against another Individual who was Involved in some of these crimes. My reason for doing this is that I want to clear up these cases for the families of the victims. I want to bring another Individual to justice. I am asking you to spare my life. I have deep remorse for my crimes.

I can never undo what I have done but I do believe that I have good qualities. I love my family and I know I have positive things to add to their lives. Please give me the chance rectify the wrongs I have commited. Sincerely, Larry W. Eyler complaining.

Both women said they were glad for the publicityand the chance to set the record straight Both women said they felt their sons had been inaccurately characterized as homosexuals because of the sexual nature of the way Eyler killed the young men. Zellner said Eyler would pick up young men and offer them a ride, some money and some drugs. He would drive them to a remote area, she said, sometimes offering money for sexual favors. When his victims were off guard, she said, he would handcuff them and kill them. Zellner specifically said that McNeive and Calise were not homosexuals.

She said they were tricked into accompanying Eyler. "He was a brilliant criminal," Zellner said. McNeive said that because her family disapproves of homosexuality, the assumption made her son's death even more painful "Finally, after 11 years, we get the truth," McNeive said. Although more than a decade has passed, the family members said the grief lingers, unresolved. "I'm still in a state of shock," Pauli said.

"I know he's dead. I have his ashes. But it's hard to believe." It's impossible to gauge the impact on the family members of many of the other victims, whose families have moved several times in the past decade. In some cases, authorities could not track down family members. Other family members had little to say.

L. Kean Block of "One of the most skilled con men I have ever met," she said of him. "He played a lot of mind games. He was evasive." Zellner began the unusual press conference by saying Eyler's death had made it possible. "No one is more relieved to be here today," she said, speaking before a battery of cameras.

"I have waited three years to relieve myself of this burden. Mr. Eyler reluctantly agreed to let me do this." Eyler's death, she allowed, was Itself a form of justice "by a higher authority. What couldn't be ac By Jeffrey Bill Tribune Staff Writer It wasn't the first time the two women had cried together, held hands and consoled one another as the grim details of their sons' slayings were told yet again. But it was probably the last time.

Carmen Paul! of Oak Park and Wilma McNeive of Indianapolis hope that finally, after more than a decade of heartache and unanswered questions, a confession by their sons' alleged killer will allow them to find peace. The women were the center of attention at a chaotic news conference Tuesday in which an attorney released copies of a signed confession by Larry Eyler, the Death Row inmate and suspected serial killer who died Sunday of complications from AIDS in the infirmary at Pontiac Correctional Center. Kathleen Zellner, the Naperville attorney appointed to represent Eyler in his fight against the death penalty, also released a list of 21 murders that she said Eyler admitted. Among the names were Pauli's son, Ralph Calise, who was 28 when his body was found in August 1983 in Lake County, and McNeive's son, Daniel Scott McNeive, who was 21 when his body was found in May 1983 near Indianapolis. As Zellner read the list of names, the cameras focused tightly on the two mothers, who clutched hands and tried to hold back tears.

"It's a sideshow," Paul! said. But she and McNeive weren't jump into his pickup truck, and go cruising for a hitchhiker or frequent gay bars in search of someone to kill Victims, Zellner said, were routinely offered liquor, drugs or money by Eyler, or Eyler and his accomplice, to participate in sex. Each would be handcuffed, blindfolded and gagged. But, she said, "sex was a ruse for murder." Eyler "was superficially charming, very manipulative," Zellner said, as if to explain how Eyler was so good at winning over his victims. 6A0 warns By Sean Hotton Orlando Sentinel WASHINGTON Congress' appetite for pork-barrel road projects means $406 million must be added to the deficit next year or taken from core programs for highways, aviation, mass transit, highway safety and Amtrak, congressional accountants testified Tuesday.

"We clearly have a problem," said Rep. Bob Carr chairman of the House Appropriations subcommitteethat oversees highway budgets. The subcommittee must find a way out of the $406 million money jam. "We have to cry for funding because we can't afford to shut down some political egos." Led by Dan Rostenkowski (D-Dl), Illinois' Influential congressional delegation has brought home $435 million in special highway projects since 1991 that have circumvented the regular Jj 112890 Chlcago Tribune diana where the murders occurred will now either close the books on murders Eyler claimed he did alone or bring charges against the unnamed accomplice. Zellner refused to link that accomplice to murder by name, since no charges are pending.

But she said she had a message for him. "You and I know who you are," she said. "I hope you will leave some record of what you have done." Continuing, Zellner said she believes there are people who have information that would help charge the accomplice she described one as an Indiana businessman. "I am pleading for him to come forward," she said. Each of the 21 killings, from the fall of 1982 until December, 1984, Zellner said, provided Eyler with "a sense of release" from pent-up anguish that would overcome him after a spat with a gay lover and while he had been drinking.

It was while in such a foul mood that Eyler, a house painter and counter clerk by occupation, would dress up in macho clothing, AP photo Michael Novak, the 1994 Templeton Prize winner, was honored tor his theology of economics. In the 1960s he was a critic of the Vietnam War and an advocate of federal anti-poverty programs. murder near Terre Haute. The jury's acquittal infuriated Eyler because his chances of making a deal had soured. "The only nice thing he did was give me permission to come here today," Zellner said.

She distanced herself from her late client, describing the murders as despicable. But there was a job to be done, she said, and she would do it making public the identities of 14 of the 21 victims. Seven victims remain unidentified. Along with the list of victims, reporters were given copies of a letter, dated Nov. 28, 1990, written by Eyler to then-Gov.

James Thompsoa In it Eyler offered to cut a deal to "rectify the wrongs I have sic commited" and get off Death Row. Zellner said it is her hope, based on Eyler's revelations of murder to her over hundreds of hours of Jailhouse conversations, that The families of many of Eyler's alleged victims will now know what happened to their loved ones, including details of how Eyler met each victim. Police and prosecutors in a dozen counties in Illinois and In- Tuesday. The Templeton Prize was established in 1972 by American-born financier Sir John M. Templeton to recognize individuals who advance the world's understanding of religion.

It is the largest monetary prize for achievement in any field and Is billed as a religious counterpart to the Nobel Prizes. Previous winners Include Mother Teresa, Rev. Billy Graham and Alexander Solzhenitsyn. Last year's winner was former Watergate figure Charles Colson, who later founded the Prison Fellowship outreach ministry. Novak, 60, whose writings include "The Spirit of Democratic Capitalism" and "Belief and Unbelief' and "The Experience of Nothingness," holds a chair In religion and public policy at the American Enterprise Institute, a Washington think tank.

about highway pork barrel Ex-war protester wins prestigious prize for his conservative theology highway funding process. The $435 million is in addition to the $600 million or so the state gets annually in regular highway money. Since 1970 Illinois ranks fifth among states in the amount it has received from the special funding for what are known as demonstration projects. The problem Carr is grappling with stems from approval of about $8.7 billion in demonstration projects since 1991. In recent years, such projects have been a popular way for congressmen to circumvent the regular highway program and bring dollars for pet roads and bridges to their districts.

President Clinton's 1995 budget proposed slashing billions of dollars worth of demo projects and putting the savings toward regular highway projects that appear on state priority lists. Fully fund ing the regular highway program was a promise that Clinton made repeatedly In the 1992 campaign. But at the last minute, even after the budget had been printed in late January, Clinton balked on cutting demo projects, fearing he would anger powerful members of the House and Senate. Clinton and Congress now face a new dilemma: How to pay for the demo projects and come up with $18.3 billion for the regular highway program in 1995. Kenneth Mead, who heads the transportation section for the General Accounting Office, laid out some options for scraping up the necessary $406 million in a report presented to Carr Tuesday: Increase the Transportation Department's overall budget at the expense of other major agencies.

Increase the highway program at the expense of the other transportation programs, such as mass transit Don't fully fund the regular highway program. hated Press (NEW YORK-Like many of his contemporaries, Michael Novak Went from anti-war activist in the 1960s to conservative in the '80s. Now the Catholic lay scholar's theological journey has won him the $1 million Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion. Jin announcing the award Tuesday, administrators of the prize praised him as a pioneer in the theology of economics. Novak, best known for leading lay opposition to the U.S.

Catholic bishops' critique of the American economy, was chosen by a nine-judge international panel that included former British Prime Miniver Margaret Thatcher. "The great myth of the 20th Cen-hjry was for progressive people to imagine that the state was the engine of their hopes," Novak, said.