Curtis and Cory Lovelace were two Quincy natives who met in high school and went on to marry and have four children. Referred to as pillars of the community, Cory's death sent shock waves throughout the small town over a decade ago.
Curtis says his wife had struggled with alcoholism, as he did, and also bulimia. He says she had also been sick with what seemed like the flu right before her death. He says on the morning of Valentine's Day 2006, he came home after dropping the kids off at school to find her deceased. The autopsy results were inconclusive, but uncovered a condition known as steatosis, or fatty liver disease.
Eight years went by, and Curtis Lovelace went through a marriage and divorce before marrying his current wife. Then, Det. Adam Gibson, fresh in his new role for the Quincy Police Department, decided to reopen the case. He went on to charge Curtis with murdering Cory back in 2006, claiming she had been suffocated. But there were holes in his theory, and the first case resulted in a hung jury and mistrial. In a second case that concluded in Sangamon County earlier this month, Curtis was found not guilty and has been freed after spending nearly two years in custody. Later, we'll hear from Curtis Lovelace himself.
Today, we have an interview with private investigator Bill Clutter, a founder of the Illinois Innocence Project, he's gone on to be Director of Investigations for a national non-profit organization, Investigating Innocence. He helped in the defense of Lovelace, and spoke with us about why he decided to get involved, and some of the twists and turns along the way.
