| At about 2 a.m. on May 23, 1987, 24-year-old Fernando Delgado was fatally shot during an altercation with two other men near the intersection of Cortland Street and Keystone Avenue in Chicago, Illinois.
Police were called to investigate reports of gunshots. When they arrived, they learned that 19-year-old Moises Perez and 19-year-old Jose Claudio had been wounded and had been taken to the hospital.
Delgado was found with a gunshot wound in the back and one in the forehead. A knife was recovered from Delgado’s pocket.
Interviewed at the hospital, Claudio and Perez, who both survived, said that they were walking on the street when Delgado confronted them. Words were exchanged. Delgado pulled out a pistol and shot them.
Police canvassed the area, but no witnesses were found.
On June 3, 1987, after Gang Crimes Specialist Reynaldo Guevara began working on the case, he filed a report saying that three sisters, CR, ER and MR, were interviewed and had implicated 21-year-old David Kruger. According to the report, the sisters said that after hearing gunshots, Kruger, whom they knew, came to the back door of their home on North Keystone Avenue, about a block from the shooting.
According to the report, CR said that she heard four gunshots, then a short time later heard two more gunshots. Shortly after, Kruger came to the door. CR said once inside, Kruger told her that Perez and Claudio had been shot by a Mexican and that he had killed the Mexican.
ER gave a similar account. She said Kruger said that after Perez and Claudio were shot, he chased the Mexican, kicked him to get the gun away from him, and then shot him. Both said that Kruger told them he hid the gun in the alley in a garbage can.
According to Guevara, MR said that Kruger gave her a gold charm from a medallion. The report said that MR believed that the charm belonged to Kruger “until…Guevara informed her differently,” that it had belonged to Delgado.
On June 10, 1987, Kruger was arrested. He was charged with first-degree murder, armed robbery, armed violence, and unlawful use of a firearm by a felon.
The police report said that a witness to the shooting had been found: Edgardo Del Valle. According to the report, Del Valle was sitting on the front porch at Victor Resto’s home at 1920 North Keystone Avenue when Delgado walked down the street. The report said Del Valle said he heard Perez and Claudio were sitting on a porch nearby, and that he heard Claudio shouting, “Watch me steal on him and take his gold.”
According to Del Valle, Claudio swung at Delgado, who pulled out a gun and fired once. Claudio accused Delgado of trying to shoot him with a “blank” gun, and Delgado responded by saying, “I’m going to kill you.” He fired again and hit Claudio in the arm. Perez ran at Delgado, and Delgado shot Perez, according to Del Valle.
Delgado began to chase Perez, who, along with Claudio, was trying to run away. At that point, according to Del Valle, Kruger ran up, kicked Delgado in the abdomen, and hit him in the face, knocking Delgado to the ground. The police report said, “Kruger grabbed the Mexican by the hair and shot the Mexican once in the back and while still holding the Mexican by the hair, picked the Mexican [sic] head up and shot him once in the forehead.”
Del Valle said that Kruger later told him he sold the gun for some cocaine and $20.
Claudio had given a new statement, according to the report. After the shooting and before he went to the hospital, Claudio said he was running down an alley when he heard two gunshots. He said that about 10 seconds later, Kruger came to him and said the situation “had been dealt with.” According to Claudio, Kruger was holding a gun that resembled the gun that Delgado had used.
In September 1989, Kruger went to trial in Cook County Circuit Court. He waived his right to a jury and chose to have Judge Thomas Hett hear the evidence and decide the case. By that time, Claudio had been murdered.
CR and ER both testified that Kruger had admitted to shooting Delgado when he came to their house. MR did not testify that Kruger made any admission, but did testify that he gave her the gold charm. She said she had lost it two days later.
Del Valle was called to testify on a Friday afternoon. He first said that the police had forced him to come to court. He denied telling the police that he saw Kruger shoot Delgado. In fact, he said he wasn’t out on the street at all at the time of the shooting. During his testimony, Judge Hett ordered a recess in the trial. He admonished Del Valle that he could be prosecuted for perjury if he did not tell the truth. Judge Hett advised Del Valle to consult with a lawyer over the weekend. Del Valle’s testimony was suspended.
The following Monday, the prosecution informed Judge Hett that Del Valle had not consulted with a lawyer, but that he would be testifying consistently with the statement detailed in the police report.
Del Valle then testified that he saw Kruger shoot Delgado twice. He said that he was on Resto's porch when the shooting occurred.
Kruger testified and denied shooting Delgado. He admitted going to the home of CR, MR, and ER, but denied that he ever admitted to shooting Delgado. He said that prior to the shooting, he was hanging out on the porch drinking beer with Perez and Claudio. He said that Claudio got into a scuffle with Delgado and was shot. He said that he fled immediately to the home of the three sisters. While he was knocking on their door, Kruger said he heard two more gunshots. He said that ER later went outside and returned to report that Delgado was lying in the street.
Perez testified and corroborated Kruger’s version of events.
On September 12, 1989, Judge Hett convicted Kruger of first-degree murder and unlawful use of a weapon by a felon and acquitted him of the armed robbery and armed violence charges. He sentenced Kruger to 25 years in prison.
In September 1992, the First District Illinois Appellate Court upheld Kruger’s convictions.
Kruger spent 14 years in prison before he was released on parole on April 10, 2001.
By then, evidence of misconduct by Guevara, who had subsequently been promoted to detective, and other police officers had been amassed. In February 2004, Juan Johnson, whose 30-year prison sentence for a murder conviction had been vacated in 2002, was acquitted at a retrial. The original three eyewitnesses who identified Johnson had all recanted their testimony and said they had been coerced by Guevara to falsely identify Johnson.
In October 2011, Jacques Rivera was exonerated of murder based on evidence that Guevara and other officers buried exculpatory evidence and pressured a witness to falsely identify him as the gunman.
The exonerations based on misconduct by Guevara kept coming. On August 9, 2022, the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office Conviction Integrity Unit (CIU) agreed to vacate and then dismissed eight homicide convictions related to Guevara’s misconduct. By the end of that year, more than 30 men and women whose convictions had been based on misconduct by Guevara and other detectives working with him had their cases vacated and dismissed.
On February 28, 2024, attorneys Anand Swaminathan, of the law firm of Loevy & Loevy, and Joshua Tepfer and Fadya Salem of The Exoneration Project at the University of Chicago Law School filed a petition for relief from judgment on behalf of Kruger. The petition cited more than 40 wrongful convictions due to Guevara’s misconduct.
The petition cited rulings in other cases. “Detective Guevara is a malignant blight on the Chicago Police Department and the judicial system” whose “toolbox of coercion was well-stocked with a wide variety of tools,” one ruling declared.
The petition, which was redacted, said that two of the sisters were no longer alive and the third had recanted. The petition said she was “terrified…of Guevara. She remembers the day she heard a series of gunshots, a knock on the door, and letting Kruger in.” She “denied that Kruger ever made any admissions to her or even talking to him substantively that night.” She recalled Guevara coming to her home at times after the shooting. “[S]he recalls little of these interactions, nor even testifying in court, but noted that she was absolutely terrified of Guevara and would have done anything he told her to do,” the petition said.
The petition also noted that in the initial police report on the day after the shooting – when Guevara was not involved in the case – Victor Resto had been interviewed. He had said he was watching television inside his home when he heard the gunshots and looked out the front window, but did not see any shooting. Two other individuals, Luis Resto and Maria Rodriguez, said the same, and none of them had mentioned Del Valle being present with them, or on the porch.
On November 21, 2024, the prosecution agreed to vacate the conviction, and the case was dismissed.
– Maurice Possley
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