Article: 'She didn't get a chance to appeal her murder' Victims' families in Lake County agree that Ryan's decision is a 'travesty of justice'.(News)

Byline: Stacy St. Clair Daily Herald Staff Writer

Joan Thompson visited her daughter's grave Friday night to tell her the news.

Her child's killer would be removed from death row Saturday, after Gov. George Ryan announced plans to commute the sentences of 167 convicts facing capital punishment.

"Well, Michelle," her mother told the tombstone, "this is a farce. The man who killed you won't have to account for his crime."

The governor's decision will affect four Lake County cases involving five victims. The men who killed Michelle Thompson of Zion and Waukegan residents Lillian Wade, Merlinda Entrata, Corey Gerlach and Perry Austin will ...

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