our lady of the angels fire 95 students killed 50th anniversary

[Researcher1]

Yes, however since there was never a conviction, printing his name is libel.

[Theo]

If you really have to know the name of the juvenile who confessed to the OLA arson - and I am not criticizing you for wanting to know it - you can find enough info in the boy's confession to identify him with online resources.

I understand the sentiment and perfectly valid theory that wants to keep his name confidential but I also understand those who believe that in the interests of history there is also a compelling interest in revealing the name for discussion.

[Researcher1]

The confession does provide plenty of details regarding the confessed arsonist. It is telling that none of the students attending OLA at the time of the fire have shared his name. Surely the students in room 206 were able to piece it together.

[Researcher1]

grounded in reality wrote:

in more recent GNUS several thousand black people have been shot and killed on the south side of Chicago.
those homicides have gone unsolved so many murders go unpunished.
law enforcement should take a 25% pay cut until the back log of unsolved murders are brought up to court.
ending with convictions.
somebody on the south side got the 411 law enforcement needs the cops just get out of the coffee shop and on the case load.

What has this to do with the OLA fire? While I feel for any murder victim, this doesn't exactly seem the right forum for your concerns.

[Ann]

My father was a Chicago cop at the time of the fire. He helped carry kids out of the building. We have talked about the fire at various times over the years. If there had been rumors that one of the kids had set the fire, I think he would have been in a position to hear. He never intimated anything like that.

30 years ago, in the late 70's and early 80's I became friends with one of the boys who was burned in the fire. Given his age, the group initially thought his burns were from VietNam. I knew him reasonably well for a few years. There was no mention that the fire had been set by someone who was not pursued or charged. As a survivor, that sort of story would have been known.

I have no idea what classroom he was in.

[Teacher]

How can it be libel if he is dead? I understand from the book that every student interviewed named him. He isn't listed on any class rosters. What ever happened to him? Was he rehabilitated? Did he ever show remorse? His confession shows he certainly had a troubled psyche, not that that is any excuse at all for what he did. As a teacher I wonder if there's any hope for children like him.

[Researcher1]

Ann wrote:

My father was a Chicago cop at the time of the fire. He helped carry kids out of the building. We have talked about the fire at various times over the years. If there had been rumors that one of the kids had set the fire, I think he would have been in a position to hear. He never intimated anything like that.
30 years ago, in the late 70's and early 80's I became friends with one of the boys who was burned in the fire. Given his age, the group initially thought his burns were from VietNam. I knew him reasonably well for a few years. There was no mention that the fire had been set by someone who was not pursued or charged. As a survivor, that sort of story would have been known.
I have no idea what classroom he was in.

Did you read the book? The confession is in the back of the book. The thought at the time ,because he was 13 years old when he confessed,started the fire at age 10, could not be prosecuted because of his age at the time of the fire, and later recanted although he knew details of the fire that were not released, the judge did nothing. The judge was afraid there would be repercussions if his identity was released. He was arrested and charged later that year for three fires he started at age 13 in Cicero and was sent to a juvenile facility in Michigan.One of the three fires he set, was in the basement of the home he lived at.

[Theo]

Teacher wrote:

How can it be libel if he is dead? I understand from the book that every student interviewed named him. He isn't listed on any class rosters. What ever happened to him? Was he rehabilitated? Did he ever show remorse? His confession shows he certainly had a troubled psyche, not that that is any excuse at all for what he did. As a teacher I wonder if there's any hope for children like him.

You're absolutely correct in that there is no libel case to be made after death. I'm not sure what his surviving mother could do - I believe she is still alive or at least she was recently - but a story about the juvenile would almost necessarily discuss her.

I do have respect for the student victims who have refused to publicly name the suspect - at least not on the internet. I think some of the hesitancy in naming him on the official OLA site may be influenced by the fact that current or maybe current moderators were children of the falsely accused janitor. Knowing how false accusations can hurt and even destroy lives may have made them reluctant to name anyone without a conviction.

In any event with info from the juvenile confession I was able to find him on the Social Security Death Index - a date was changed a spec but all the rest of the info fit perfectly and led me to find his son's death as well. He had a half sibling since his mom was pregnant at the time of the confession. I think I found that person as well.

It's always been tempting for me to post what I have uncovered but in the need I feel it is not up to me. It is for those victims' families and the survivors themselves to do that.

[Researcher1]

There are 10 states that have statutes that protect the defamation of the dead. Local ordinances to protect the name of the dead also apply in select states. I don't know if California or Illinois have local ordinances re: the dead and libel/slander.