Killer of 2 Officers Won’t Be Executed
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KANKAKEE, Ill. — A man whose death sentence in the slayings of two police officers and another man was overturned has been spared the death penalty after being tried and convicted a second time.
A Kankakee County jury, which found Monroe Lampkin guilty of murder, deliberated six hours last week before it decided against sentencing him to death.
Lampkin’s earlier conviction and death sentence were overturned by the Illinois Supreme Court, which cited prejudicial remarks made at his first trial by a Chicago police officer.
Lampkin, 49, was convicted Monday in the deaths of Michael McCarter, a state trooper; Donald Vice, McCarter’s brother-in-law, and William Caisse, a Paxton police officer.
The men were killed during a gun battle that broke out the night of April 7, 1979, following a routine traffic stop along Interstate 57 near Paxton. Two of Lampkin’s brothers, Cleveland and David, also were killed.
No motive for the shootings was ever established.
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