“After being branded a monster and spending more than 30 years in prison for murder, Mr. Melock’s name and record are finally cleared. “I can finally hold my head up high,” he says.
WAUKEGAN, Il. – Robert Melock was only 22 in January 1989, when he was arrested and charged with murdering his own 72-year-old grandmother, Augustine Melock. The press called it one of the most horrific crimes Lake County had ever seen, and prosecutors branded Mr. Melock a monster beyond redemption.
On Monday—nearly a year and a half since his conviction was overturned, and more than three decades since he was wrongly convicted—Mr. Melock, now 58, was completely cleared of this horrendous crime. The Circuit Court of the 19th Judicial Circuit issued Mr. Melock a Certificate of Innocence (COI), finding him innocent of the charges and ordering his record expunged.”
Read more from the Loevy & Loevy press release.
“Receiving the [Certificate of Innocence] means a lot to me…I’m glad that everyone’s going to see what I’ve been telling them for years. I felt a big weight get off my shoulders…”
Read more from Death Penalty Information Center: Former Illinois Death-Sentenced Prisoner Robert Melock’s Charges Dismissed, Court Acknowledges Innocence
