Brian Dugan
Encyclopedia
Brian James Dugan is an American
rapist and serial killer
active between 1983 and 1985 in Chicago
's western suburbs. He was on death row
for the 1983 murder of 10 year-old Jeanine Nicarico
until Illinois
governor Patrick Quinn
abolished capital punishment in 2011 and his sentence was commuted to life in prison.
, the second child of James and Genevieve "Jenny" Dugan. He has one sister and three brothers. According to Brian's siblings, both James and Jenny Dugan were alcoholics. In 1967, Dugan family moved to Lisle, Illinois
.
According to Brian's family, his birth was traumatic. Brian began to emerge before the attending physician had arrived and so, in attempt to delay his birth, the family claims that a nurse and an intern pushed Brian's head back inside his mother and strapped her legs together. Relatives would later question if this caused Brian to have brain damage because as a youth Brian suffered severe headaches followed by vomiting for which he took medication until his teens. Dugan was also a chronic bed wetter, a condition his adult father also suffered from.
At age 8, Brian and a younger brother burned down the family garage and, according to his brother, Steven, at age 13 Brian poured gasoline
on a cat and lit it on fire. In 1972, Brian ran away to Iowa and later that year he was arrested on a burglary charge. It was his first arrest and would be followed by convictions for other crimes including arson
, battery, and other burglaries. In 1974, he attempted to abduct a 10 year-old girl from a train station in Lisle. Charges were brought but later dropped. In 1975, Brian threatened to kill his sister, Hilary, "chop up" her son, and vandalized her car. According to Steven Dugan, Brian attempted to molest him in 1972 after a stay in a youth home, where, Steven suspected, Brian may have been sexually assaulted. Brian Dugan spent time in the Menard Correctional Center from 1979 until 1982.
. Suffering from the flu, Jeanine was at home alone while her parents were at work and her sisters were at school. Her body was found 2 days later, six miles from her home. She had been raped and beaten to death. Rolando Cruz
, 20 year-old gang member from Aurora
, initially came to the attention of the police after he fed them false information about the murder in an attempt to claim the $10,000 reward being offered. Soon, police charged Cruz, along with Alejandro Hernandez and Stephen Buckley, with Jeanine's rape and murder despite a lack of evidence. Cruz and Hernandez were convicted and sentenced to death (the jury deadlocked on Buckley and he was not retried).
, in her car at a stoplight. He followed her and ran her off the road with his car, after which he beat and raped her. Dugan murdered Donna Schnorr by drowning her in a quarry.
when they were confronted by Brian Dugan. Dugan grabbed Opal first and threw her in his car, but the girl managed to escape while Dugan was apprehending Melissa. Melissa's body was found several weeks later.
law enforcement officials were tried but acquitted of conspiring to frame Rolando Cruz. Eventually, prosecutors were able to link Dugan to Nicarico's murder through DNA testing. Dugan was indicted for the murder in 2005. In 2009, Dugan plead guilty to the murder and was sentenced to death.
. According to the story, Dugan encountered a man at a Lisle grocery store who offered him a job. Dugan got in the man's car and the man took him to a secluded area where Dugan was forced to model bikini brief underwear and perform oral sex on the man. The man then gave Dugan $20 and returned him to the grocery store where he picked Dugan up. Dugan claimed that after seeing John Wayne Gacy's face following Gacy's 1978 arrest he realized that Gacy was the same man from the grocery store. Author Clifford L. Linedecker, who wrote the 1985 Gacy biography "The Man Who Killed Boys", noted that the then 15 year-old Brian Dugan would have fit the profile of the typical Gacy victim. However, Gacy prosecutor Terry Sullivan doubted the story, pointing out that not only did Dugan not come forward at the time of the crime, but the Dugan's story did not match Gacy's typical methods nor was Lisle known to be one of Gacy's hunting grounds.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
rapist and serial killer
Serial killer
A serial killer, as typically defined, is an individual who has murdered three or more people over a period of more than a month, with down time between the murders, and whose motivation for killing is usually based on psychological gratification...
active between 1983 and 1985 in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
's western suburbs. He was on death row
Death row
Death row signifies the place, often a section of a prison, that houses individuals awaiting execution. The term is also used figuratively to describe the state of awaiting execution , even in places where no special facility or separate unit for condemned inmates exists.After individuals are found...
for the 1983 murder of 10 year-old Jeanine Nicarico
Jeanine Nicarico murder case
The Jeanine Nicarico murder case was a complex and influential homicide investigation and prosecution in DuPage County, Illinois that sent two men to prison who were later exonerated and released, and contributed to the death penalty moratorium imposed by then-Governor George H...
until Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
governor Patrick Quinn
Pat Quinn (politician)
Patrick Joseph "Pat" Quinn III is the 41st and current Governor of Illinois. He is a member of the Democratic Party. Previously elected three times to statewide office, Quinn was the sitting lieutenant governor and became governor on January 29, 2009, when the previous governor, Rod Blagojevich,...
abolished capital punishment in 2011 and his sentence was commuted to life in prison.
Early Life And Crimes
Brian Dugan was born in Nashua, New HampshireNashua, New Hampshire
-Climate:-Demographics:As of the census of 2010, there were 86,494 people, 35,044 households, and 21,876 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,719.9 people per square mile . There were 37,168 housing units at an average density of 1,202.8 per square mile...
, the second child of James and Genevieve "Jenny" Dugan. He has one sister and three brothers. According to Brian's siblings, both James and Jenny Dugan were alcoholics. In 1967, Dugan family moved to Lisle, Illinois
Lisle, Illinois
Lisle is a village in DuPage County, Illinois, United States. The population was 22,930 at the 2011 census, and estimated to be 23,135 as of 2008. It is part of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Illinois Technology and Research Corridor...
.
According to Brian's family, his birth was traumatic. Brian began to emerge before the attending physician had arrived and so, in attempt to delay his birth, the family claims that a nurse and an intern pushed Brian's head back inside his mother and strapped her legs together. Relatives would later question if this caused Brian to have brain damage because as a youth Brian suffered severe headaches followed by vomiting for which he took medication until his teens. Dugan was also a chronic bed wetter, a condition his adult father also suffered from.
At age 8, Brian and a younger brother burned down the family garage and, according to his brother, Steven, at age 13 Brian poured gasoline
Gasoline
Gasoline , or petrol , is a toxic, translucent, petroleum-derived liquid that is primarily used as a fuel in internal combustion engines. It consists mostly of organic compounds obtained by the fractional distillation of petroleum, enhanced with a variety of additives. Some gasolines also contain...
on a cat and lit it on fire. In 1972, Brian ran away to Iowa and later that year he was arrested on a burglary charge. It was his first arrest and would be followed by convictions for other crimes including arson
Arson
Arson is the crime of intentionally or maliciously setting fire to structures or wildland areas. It may be distinguished from other causes such as spontaneous combustion and natural wildfires...
, battery, and other burglaries. In 1974, he attempted to abduct a 10 year-old girl from a train station in Lisle. Charges were brought but later dropped. In 1975, Brian threatened to kill his sister, Hilary, "chop up" her son, and vandalized her car. According to Steven Dugan, Brian attempted to molest him in 1972 after a stay in a youth home, where, Steven suspected, Brian may have been sexually assaulted. Brian Dugan spent time in the Menard Correctional Center from 1979 until 1982.
Jeanine Nicarico
On February 25, 1983, 10 year-old Jeanine Nicarico (born July 7, 1972) was abducted in broad daylight from her home in Naperville, IllinoisNaperville, Illinois
Naperville is a city in DuPage and Will Counties in Illinois in the United States, voted the second best place to live in the United States by Money Magazine in 2006. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 141,853. It is the fifth largest city in the state, behind Chicago,...
. Suffering from the flu, Jeanine was at home alone while her parents were at work and her sisters were at school. Her body was found 2 days later, six miles from her home. She had been raped and beaten to death. Rolando Cruz
Rolando Cruz case
In February 1985, a Hispanic man from Aurora, Illinois named Rolando Cruz and a co-defendant were tried, convicted, and sentenced to death for the 1983 kidnapping, rape, deviant sexual assault and murder of 10-year old Jeanine Nicarico in DuPage County Circuit Court despite the fact that the police...
, 20 year-old gang member from Aurora
Aurora, Illinois
Aurora is the second most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois, and the 112th largest city in the United States. A suburb of Chicago, located west of the Loop, its population in 2010 was 197,899. Originally founded within Kane County, Aurora's city limits have expanded greatly over the past...
, initially came to the attention of the police after he fed them false information about the murder in an attempt to claim the $10,000 reward being offered. Soon, police charged Cruz, along with Alejandro Hernandez and Stephen Buckley, with Jeanine's rape and murder despite a lack of evidence. Cruz and Hernandez were convicted and sentenced to death (the jury deadlocked on Buckley and he was not retried).
Donna Schnorr
On July 15, 1984, Dugan took notice of Donna Schnorr, a 27 year-old nurse from Geneva, IllinoisGeneva, Illinois
Geneva is the county seat of Kane County, Illinois. It is located on the western fringe of the Chicago suburbs. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 26,652. Geneva is part of a tri-city area, along with St. Charles and Batavia...
, in her car at a stoplight. He followed her and ran her off the road with his car, after which he beat and raped her. Dugan murdered Donna Schnorr by drowning her in a quarry.
Melissa Ackerman
In May 1985, Dugan went on a crime spree that culminated with the murder of Melissa Ackerman, who was just 7 years-old. On May 6, Dugan raped a 21 year-old woman, who survived the attack. On May 28, Dugan tried but failed to abduct a 19 year-old woman who was walking along the road. The following day, he abducted and raped a 16 year-old girl. On June 2, 1985, Melissa Ackerman and her 8 year-old friend, Opal Horton, were riding their bikes in Somonauk, IllinoisSomonauk, Illinois
Somonauk is a village in DeKalb County and LaSalle counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. The population was 1,295 at the 2000 census. A special census in 2008 set the population at 1,832....
when they were confronted by Brian Dugan. Dugan grabbed Opal first and threw her in his car, but the girl managed to escape while Dugan was apprehending Melissa. Melissa's body was found several weeks later.
The Schnorr and Ackerman Murders
The day following Melissa Ackerman's murder, Dugan was arrested at his job. He came to the attention of the police after a police officer from a neighboring town of Somonauk reported encountering Dugan about the out-of date vehicle sticker on his car and Opal Horton was also able to give the police a description of Dugan's vehicle. Once Melissa Ackerman's body was found, Dugan was charged with her murder when police were able to link him to the crime through physical evidence found in Dugan's belongings. In exchange for avoiding the death penalty, Dugan confessed to the murders of both Melissa Ackerman and Donna Schnorr. Brian offered no real explanation for the crimes, stating:"It might have been for the sex, but I don't understand why. I wish I knew why I did a lot of things, but I don't."
Jeanine Nicarico
Brian Dugan was not initially a suspect in Jeanine Nicarico's murder. However, in 1985, he gave an unofficial confession to the crime but wanted to avoid the death penalty in that case. Prosecutors rejected this demand so Dugan refused to make an official confession. Dugan would later claim that he made his confession in order to take responsibility for the crime and clear Rolando Cruz and Alejandro Hernandez, although Cruz has stated that he believes that Dugan's motives were self-serving and had nothing to do with the truth. Both Cruz and Hernandez were eventually exonerated of the crime after much of the evidence and testimony against them was discredited. In 1999, seven DuPage CountyDuPage County, Illinois
As of the 2010 Census, the population of the county was 916,924, White Americans made up 77.9% of Dupage County's population; non-Hispanic whites represented 70.5% of the population. Black Americans made up 4.6% of the population. Native Americans made up 0.3% of Dupage County's population...
law enforcement officials were tried but acquitted of conspiring to frame Rolando Cruz. Eventually, prosecutors were able to link Dugan to Nicarico's murder through DNA testing. Dugan was indicted for the murder in 2005. In 2009, Dugan plead guilty to the murder and was sentenced to death.
Possible Encounter With John Wayne Gacy
In 2008, it was reported that Brian Dugan had claimed, since the 1980s, that in 1972, he had been molested by John Wayne GacyJohn Wayne Gacy
John Wayne Gacy, Jr. was an American serial killer, rapist and clown who sexually assaulted and murdered at least 33 teenage boys and young men between 1972 and 1978. Gacy buried 26 of his victims in the crawlspace of his home, buried three others elsewhere on his property, and discarded the...
. According to the story, Dugan encountered a man at a Lisle grocery store who offered him a job. Dugan got in the man's car and the man took him to a secluded area where Dugan was forced to model bikini brief underwear and perform oral sex on the man. The man then gave Dugan $20 and returned him to the grocery store where he picked Dugan up. Dugan claimed that after seeing John Wayne Gacy's face following Gacy's 1978 arrest he realized that Gacy was the same man from the grocery store. Author Clifford L. Linedecker, who wrote the 1985 Gacy biography "The Man Who Killed Boys", noted that the then 15 year-old Brian Dugan would have fit the profile of the typical Gacy victim. However, Gacy prosecutor Terry Sullivan doubted the story, pointing out that not only did Dugan not come forward at the time of the crime, but the Dugan's story did not match Gacy's typical methods nor was Lisle known to be one of Gacy's hunting grounds.