Infamous 'Ripper Crew' Member Thomas Kokoraleis To Be Released From Prison
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A member of the sadistic cult group called the "Ripper Crew" responsible for a string of brutal murders of women will be released from prison at the end of the month.
Thomas Kokoraleis, 58, was originally sentenced to life in prison for the 1982 slaying of Lorraine "Lorry" Ann Borowski. Borowski was reported missing in 1982, after never showing up for work, but it was later learned she had been abducted while opening her real estate office, and killed a short time later.
After an appeals court granted him a new trial, prosecutors allowed Kokoraleis to plead guilty in exchange for a 70-year sentence. Under old Illinois sentencing guidelines, he was eligible for parole after serving only half his sentence.
He was nearly released in 2017, but his release was delayed because he did not have an approved place to live at the time. Prosecutors tried to see if they could have Kokoraleis committed as a sexually violent person, but later said they could not determine beyond a reasonable doubt that he suffers from a mental disorder that would allow the state to hold him beyond his parole date.
On Tuesday, Elmhurst police were notified by the Illinois Prisoner Review Board that Kokoraleis will be released on March 29.
Kokoraleis was one of four Ripper Crew members accused of abducting, raping, torturing, mutilating, and killing up to 20 women in the early 1980s in Chicago and the suburbs.
Two others were convicted in the killings, including Kokoraleis' brother, Andrew, who was executed in 1999 — the last execution in Illinois before the state put a moratorium on the death penalty. A fourth man was sentenced to 120 years for raping and mutilating a teenager and remains in prison.
