• Seven killings from 1989 to 1994 were dismissed Tuesday.
• Reynaldo Guevara, a former police officer, has never been charged with a crime.
• He helped prisoners get out of jail by repeatedly using his right not to testify against himself or say he couldn’t remember details.

The Cook County state’s attorney’s office said that seven murder convictions against a retired Chicago police who was accused of putting others in the frame were overturned by the courts.

A Chicago news agency reported it is likely to be the largest mass exoneration for murder in US history.

An eighth case remains, pending additional court processes.

State’s Attorney Kim Foxx said that her office will no longer fight post-conviction litigation in eight cases involving alleged police misconduct by Reynaldo Guevara after a 2019 review.

Foxx said, “We no longer believe in the validity of these convictions or the credibility of the evidence of these convictions.” 

Seven killings from 1989 to 1994 were dismissed Tuesday.

Five defendants have been released from prison. Two others are likely to be let go, while one is still being held while the court does more work.

Twenty cases have been vacated, and three more will be in the following weeks.

Some of Guevara’s victims are now free after decades. Alfredo “Freddie” Gonzalez spent time at the Stateville Correctional Center in Crest Hill.

Gonzalez screamed, “I’m free!” as he tearfully embraced his daughter, Maria.

Gonzalez spent 32 of his 64 years behind bars — three decades of a life sentence for a murder he didn’t commit.

“I had a broken heart, because I wasn’t attentive,” Gonzalez said.

Nelson Gonzalez spent 21 years in prison for a murder he didn’t commit. He’s clear about who’s to blame.

“This was a conspiracy created by Mr. Guevara and other agents, and I’m asking Kim Foxx to press charges,” Gonzalez stated.

Guevara, a former police officer, has never been charged with a crime, even though there have been rumors, lies, and cruel acts about him for decades.

Foxx said that her office is looking into what charges could be brought against Guevara, who retired in 2005 and now gets two pensions.

He helped prisoners get out of jail by repeatedly using his right not to testify against himself or saying he couldn’t remember details, which made prosecutors drop the charges.

After prosecutors awarded him amnesty, he said he didn’t remember the two murderers’ admissions. The judge called his statements “bald-faced lies” and tossed the confessions.

“Could we try these cases again today without the work of Detective Guevara?” Foxx said Tuesday. “Based on our review, we are not able to retry these cases.”

She said more investigations could be done “to see if, in fact, someone else committed these crimes.”

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