Petition claims new evidence exonerates 3 suspects in 1996 murder case

Steven Spearie, Springfield State Journal- Register
·3 min read

The Springfield-based Illinois Innocence Project is making claims that three members of a Decatur family convicted of the 1996 murder of a 23-year-old aspiring model are innocent.

The Karyn Hearn Slover case made national headlines after her dismembered body was found in garbage bags in Lake Shelbyville just days after her disappearance.

More: Man on parole faces murder charge after shooting at Springfield motel

The petition for post-conviction relief filed on Feb. 13 by the project based at the University of Illinois Springfield stated the murder conviction against the late Michael Slover Sr., his wife, Jeannette Slover, and their son and Karyn Slover's ex-husband, Michael Slover Jr., was based on "junk science."

Both sides will be in court on April 4 for the first time since the petition was filed and since Michael Slover Jr. was paroled from the Illinois Department of Corrections on March 15.

A sign outside the office of the Illinois Innocence Project office at the University of Illinois Springfield is seen Wednesday, March 27, 2024, with photos of some of their clients who were exonerated on the office door.
A sign outside the office of the Illinois Innocence Project office at the University of Illinois Springfield is seen Wednesday, March 27, 2024, with photos of some of their clients who were exonerated on the office door.

Background of the case

Karyn Slover disappeared after leaving her job at a Decatur newspaper on Sept. 27, 1996. The car she was driving was found abandoned on Interstate 72 just outside of Champaign later that same evening.

Trash bags containing Slover's remains were found floating in Lake Shelbyville. Slover had been shot in the head multiple times and her body dismembered.

The state's case centered around the custody of Michael Jr. and Karyn Slover's son, who was three years old at the time of the murder.

Karyn Slover had been considering an offer to pursue a modelling job in Georgia, where she would take their son. Even after the couple divorced, Jeanette Slover remained the child's babysitter.

The three family members were arrested in early 2000 and convicted in 2002 after a five-week trial.

More: Court denies Slover family's request to test print

Michael Slover Sr. died in prison in 2022. Jeanette Slover, 76, is in the Decatur Correctional Center. Michael Slover Jr., 53, was paroled from Robinson Correctional Center.

The Innocence Project's claims

The petition looks to debunk two experts the state used at trial as well as presents new DNA evidence.

"Junk science" was used in forensic comparison of cinders and concrete, clothing fasteners and dog hair, the petition claimed.

Illinois Innocence Project student intern Caleb Grover works at the Illinois Innocence Project office at the University of Illinois Springfield March 27, 2024.
Illinois Innocence Project student intern Caleb Grover works at the Illinois Innocence Project office at the University of Illinois Springfield March 27, 2024.

"It was not, in fact, based on any real or existing science. This comparison evidence was unproven, unprecedented, and unreliable, and should have never been allowed in a court of law," the petition stated.

The defense insisted new evidence, including DNA testing results from duct tape from the garbage bag, "demonstrated that at least three unknown male perpetrators" murdered Slover.

What is the Illinois Innocence Project?

The Illinois Innocence Project is a member of the national Innocence Project network, which works to exonerate wrongfully convicted people.

Founded in 2001 as the Downstate Illinois Innocence Project, it is housed in the Center for State Policy and Leadership at University Illinois Springfield.

The Illinois Innocence Project has "helped release or exonerate 24 individuals," a representative from the office said.

It has assisted with the Slovers' defense since at least 2005.

More: US senators urge Biden to create national monument to honor Springfield philanthropist

What will the April 4 hearing look like?

The April 4 hearing before 6th Judicial Circuit Associate Judge Rodney Forbes is "a status hearing," meaning it provides the judge with updates on developments on the case.

The state could file a motion to dismiss petition for post-conviction relief before the hearing or ask Forbes for more time to file a motion.

Another court date will then be set.

What both sides are saying

Leanne Beyer, a staff attorney for the innocence project, declined to be interviewed on the record.

A Feb. 13 release said the innocence project is "committed to obtaining an exoneration for the Slover family for a crime they did not commit."

Macon County State's Attorney Scott Reuter did not return phone calls from The State Journal-Register.

Contact Steven Spearie: 217-622-1788; sspearie@sj-r.com; X, twitter.com/@StevenSpearie.

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Petition claims new evidence exonerates suspects in 1996 murder case