Daily Egyptian DAILYEGYPTIAN.COM
MONDAY, MAY 11, 2015
SINCE 1916
‘I’ll sleep when I am dead’
VOL. 99 ISSUE 60
Chicagoans hold vigil for Varughese Lovely Varughese hopes to speak to Department of Justice officials austin Miller | @AMiller_DE
e llen B ooth | @EllenBooth_DE Emily VanWaardhuizen, a senior from Rock Island studyng art history, studies for finals on Friday in Morris Library. “I consume more caffeine than most humans should,” VanWaardhuizen said. “I’ll sleep when I am dead. I plan to be here until I get everything done or I pass out, which ever comes first.” During finals week, Morris Library’s first floor is open 24 hours.
Charges dismissed in Molly Young case, father still left in the dark saM Beard | @SamBeard_DE The $1 million wrongful death lawsuit against Richie Minton, filed by the attorney of the late Molly Young’s family, was dismissed Friday. Jackson County Circuit Judge W. Charles Grace dismissed the civil case, citing Larry Young’s failure to file within the statute of limitations, meaning he did not file charges within two years after his daughter’s death. Molly died of a gunshot wound to the head on March 24, 2012, and her death has been shrouded in controversy ever since. Minton, who was a dispatcher for the Carbondale Police Department at the time, was present at the time of her death, which was ruled a suicide. Young said he has not been notified by the authorities about anything regarding the investigation of the death of his daughter. He said everything he has heard has been through media reports, and the dismissal was no different. At an April 7 proceeding, Grace said he would dismiss or proceed with the lawsuit within two weeks. Young’s attorney Charles Stegmeyer challenged the relevance of the statue of limitations formality, citing eight
counts of fraudulent concealment on the part of Minton and the authorities, according to an article in the Southern Illinoisan. “The complaint itself is outside the statue of limitations,” Stegmeyer said in the courtroom. “When was it discoverable by Mr. Young that he had a legal cause of action?” Young said on Sunday he felt he did not have enough proof to pursue legal action against Minton because details about the case have been supressed from the start. He said he spent hundreds of hours trying to obtain records relevant to the case to discern if his lawsuit could proceed. “We figured out that there was a cover-up and fraudulent concealment going on,” Young said. “You can’t go into court and go, ‘He said, she said.’ You’ve got to have a document in your hand.” He spent months getting some records, years obtaining others. There are still pieces of the investigation that neither Young nor his attorney have been given by police, he said. Young said he did not have a comprehensive report until January 2014 because the authorities did not preform a legitimate investigation.
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“I only speak if I have a document to back it up,” Young said. “The problem is they suppressed a lot of the details from the general media.” Stegmeyer argued fraudulent concealment occurred when vital information was wrongfully withheld or misrepresented, thereby extending the time allowed to file to five years. He said the fraudulent concealment included Minton moving the body and wiping the gun clean of fingerprints after Molly’s death, waiting nearly six hours before calling 9-1-1 and when he did, he told the dispatcher Molly overdosed. Young said Minton has never been interviewed under oath. The police allowed Minton to shower and wash his clothes when they arrived at the scene and never interviewed anyone from the apartment complex where Molly was found, subsequently lying by saying they did, Young said. Grace reportedly disagreed and said these actions do not constitute fraudulent concealment, and even if they did, Young could have filed within the standard two years. Please see YOUNG | 3
Some 100 people took to Daley Plaza in Chicago to remember the life of Pravin Varughese on Saturday. Present at the vigil was Lovely Varughese, mother of Pravin, the SIU student who was found dead in the wooded area east of the 1400 block of East Main Street near Buffalo Wild Wings on Feb. 18. 2014, six days after he was reported missing. The vigil was held not only to remember Pravin, but for the additional dozen or so families dealing with unsolved murders or missing persons, Varughese said. “We wanted to do something downtown to show that we are not going away — that there are problems in the legal system,” Varughese said. “We wanted to get these families together to show we are not alone. There are a lot more other people in our shoes.” The Pravin Action Council, a 50-person group of Indian Chicagoans whose mission is to raise awareness about Pravin’s death, organized the event. Varughese said the sister of Stacy Peterson, who has been missing since 2007, spoke at the ceremony. Drew Peterson, Stacy’s husband, has been the main suspect in the disappearance and is serving a 38-year prison sentence for murdering his third wife. Also in attendance was a representative of U.S. Rep. Bob Dold (R-Ill.). Varughese said she first met Dold in February, after Pravin’s funeral in Chicago. Dold has since written a letter with U.S. Rep. Danny Davis (D-Ill) to the Department of Justice requesting it review Pravin’s case, she said. “They have realized there is a problem, otherwise they wouldn’t get involved,” Varughese said. “Our voice is being heard. They are doing everything they can and are interested in changing the system.” Dold and Davis could not be reached for comment by press time Sunday. Varughese will speak at a conference on May 18 in Washington, D.C. While there, she said she hopes to speak with officials from the Department of Justice. She has pending lawsuits against the city of Carbondale and Illinois State Trooper Chris Martin for his suspected negligence in investigating Pravin’s disappearance. She said she sent the results of a second autopsy to the special prosecutor requested by Jackson County State’s Attorney Michael Carr one month ago. The family commissioned the autopsy, and Dr. Ben Margolis of the Autopsy Center in Chicago found the cause of death to be blunt-force trauma to the head. Those results conflicted with the Carbondale police report, which stated Pravin died from hypothermia. Varughese said she has not heard anything from Carbondale police since then. “This is not the way a civilized country should work,” she said. “If my son’s life can shed some light onto [these problems], I’m going to get it done.”
The DE staff would like to wish you good luck on your final exams. #SIUFinalsWeek