Convicted Killer Released From Jail After Twin Brother Confesses

Chicago IL

27 January, 2022

1:13 PM

Description

CHICAGO — A man who spent 20 years in prison after being convicted of killing a rival gang member in 2003 was released this week after his twin brother confessed to the crime, according to a published report. Kevin Dugar was released from Cook County Jail on 9:30 p.m. on Tuesday and is now free after his twin brother, Karl Smith, now says he was the one who shot and killed a gang member and injured another person in Chicago's Uptown neighborhood, ABC 7 reported. Smith is already serving a 99-year sentence for his participation in a violent home invasion in which a child was shot in the head. The confession comes three years after Smith's confession was deemed not credible, the station reported, after a judge determined that Smith had no chance of being released from prison. The same judge also denied a new trial for Dugar. The Northwest Center of Wrongful Conviction, based at Northwestern University, appealed the decision and on Tuesday morning, a judge reviewed the case and determined Dugar should be released, ABC 7 reported. An email sent to the center seeking comment was not immediately returned to Patch on Thursday.