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21721164? ago

Part 16

January 25, 1990, PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS v. THOMAS C. KOKORALEIS, APPELLATE COURT OF ILLINOIS, SECOND DISTRICT, 549 N.E.2d 1354, 1990 Ill. App. LEXIS 105; 501 N.E. 2d 207 (1986), Denial of Request to Withdraw Guilty Plea Affirmed

Overview: Appellate documents state that Defendant Thomas Kokoraleis was convicted of the rape and murder of Lorraine Borowski. The Appellate court overturned his conviction in 1986 and remanded the case back to court. Defendant then plead guilty to murder in return for a 70 year sentence. Defendant sought to withdraw his guilty plea but the court denied his request.

The Defense stipulated that if the case had gone to trial, the State would have presented evidence to show that Borowski’s body was found with her left breast removed; that the defendant admitted to police officers that he and his cohorts had abducted Borowski;, removed her left breast with a piano wire, and killed her; and that the defendant was part of a cult that would rape and kill women and cut off their breasts. The Appellate Court ruled that because the Defendant had falsely confessed to another murder it did not affect his admission of guilt regarding two other murders which he plead guilty to.

News articles report that Cook County Assistant State’s Attorney Richard Beuke testified at Thomas Kokoraleis’s trial in Du Page County, stating that the severed breast of the murder victims would be removed from a box and placed on the altar. The rituals, while Gecht read passages from the Bible, involved cannibalism. Police thought Robin Gecht was the leader of the group. See “Gang Member Gets 70 Years in 1982 Slaying,” Chicago Tribune, July 17, 1987, and other articles.

See Part 17