Alstory Simon Lawsuit Says Northwestern Journalism Professor Coerced False Murder Confession

A man wrongly imprisoned for 15 years for a Chicago double murder has sued Northwestern University for $40 million, alleging it allowed an investigative journalism professor to coerce a false confession from him.

The lawsuit pits Alstory Simon, 64, who was released from prison in October, against David Protess, a former Northwestern journalism professor. Simon accuses Protess of conspiring with Paul Ciolino, a private investigator, to frame him for a 1982 double killing.

The lawsuit is the latest twist in a mishandled murder case that has seen two convictions overturned and contributed to Illinois abandoning the death penalty.

HuffPost couldn’t reach Simon, who’s now living in the Cleveland area, according to friend and filmmaker Shawn Rech. Rech released “A Murder in the Park” last year, which argued that Simon was railroaded by Protess, his team and county prosecutors. He contends that Porter, the inmate released in 1999, was the true killer.

Rech said Simon hasn’t said much to him about the lawsuit, but seems happy as a freed man trying to boost his health after years in prison.

“He went in there a strapping 46-year-old who was very mobile,” Rech told HuffPost. “He came out in a lot worse shape.”

The Huffington Post