CHICAGO — A Chicago man was found not guilty of attempted murder and other felonies last week, charges that were filed against him in 2022 as he sued for being wrongfully convicted in a separate murder case involving a child victim.
Jurors needed less than two hours to find William Dukes, 56, not guilty on all charges, according to notes filed by Judge Michael Pattarozzi.
In November 2022, prosecutors accused Dukes of sexually assaulting and trying to kill a woman he allowed to live in his spare bedroom after she lost housing.
During an initial bail hearing, prosecutors said Dukes held a knife to the victim’s throat and threatened to “cut her into little pieces so that she would never be found.”
A grand jury returned a 69-count true bill, but prosecutors proceeded to trial on just eight of those charges and lost: attempted murder, aggravated domestic battery by strangulation, and six counts of sexual assault.
Dukes continues to pursue a certificate of innocence to clear his name in a 31-year-old murder case.
In August 1993, someone suffocated Marilyn Williams and raped and strangled her 8-year-old granddaughter, Bridget Cannady, in Williams’ Cicero apartment. Williams had been babysitting Bridget, and the girl’s mother discovered their bodies in the apartment bathtub.
A man named Marko Tomazovich rented a downstairs apartment from Williams. Dukes rented a room from Williams, too. For a short time, he dated Bridget’s mother, Lucy Rhynes, the Chicago Tribune reported in 1998. Both men had growing criminal records.
Prosecutors charged Tomazovich with murder, sexual assault, and other felonies. Years later, in 2004, they charged Dukes, too. Tomazovich reportedly cut a plea deal, agreeing to testify against Dukes and plead guilty to home invasion.
Eight years later, in 2012, Dukes was sentenced to life in prison.
But an Illinois appellate court overturned Dukes’ conviction in 2014, saying the judge should not have allowed the jury to hear admissions Dukes allegedly made while negotiating a plea deal, according to a contemporaneous Tribune report.
Dukes received a new trial and was acquitted in 2019, according to court records. He filed a petition for a certificate of innocence in July 2021. Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx announced in April that her office would take a neutral stance in the matter.
Also in July 2021, Dukes filed a federal lawsuit against the cities of Chicago and Cicero as well as various police officers and investigators. According to federal court records, the lawsuit was settled in May.
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