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After 26 years in prison, Alton Logan’s murder charges dismissed

Five months after being released from a state prison, Alton Lind Logan said he finally feels free now that murder charges that cost him 26 years of his life were dropped.

Five months after being released from a state prison, Alton Lind Logan said he finally feels free now that murder charges that cost him 26 years of his life were dropped. “I’ve been telling everybody for the last 26 years I didn’t do this, and finally they did the right thing,” Logan said after leaving court Thursday. “I’m happy that I can finally get on with my life.” And the courts now agree that Logan, 55, was wrongfully convicted of murder. Logan was convicted of killing security guard Lloyd Wickliffe during a January 1982 robbery at a McDonald’s located at 11421 S. Halsted St. Logan was largely convicted on testimony from three McDonald’s employees who said he was the murderer. “From all that I have heard, you did not commit this murder,” Cook County Circuit Judge James Schreier told Logan in court. After more than two decades behind bars, Logan was freed after Andrew Wilson, a convicted cop killer serving a life sentence, confessed to the crime, according to Wilson’s attorneys. Bound by an oath of confidentiality, the attorneys kept the admission a secret until after Wilson died in prison in November 2007. In April, Logan’s murder conviction was overturned, and he was released after posting a $1,000 bond while the state decided whether to retry him for murder, said Harold Winston, Logan’s attorney. The Illinois Attorney General’s office declined to retry Logan because it would not be able to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Logan was guilty. The last time Logan was free, cellular phones did not exist, Michael Jordan was still in college and a pack of cigarettes cost less than $2. “It’s a hard transition and a slow process, but I’m getting there,” Logan said. “I just have to remember that I am not behind bars anymore.” ______ Copyright 2008 Chicago Defender. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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