KANKAKEE, Ill. (AP) – A woman convicted in the 1987 kidnapping and death of a northern Illinois businessman has been released from prison.
The Illinois Department of Corrections said 60-year-old Nancy Rish was paroled Thursday. Stephen Small of Kankakee suffocated in a plywood box he was buried in when a breathing tube running to the surface failed before a ransom could be paid.
Rish petitioned in December 2017 for a resentencing hearing so that the court could consider evidence of domestic violence. Her attorneys argued Rish was coerced by ex-boyfriend Daniel Edwards into driving him and that she was unaware of his kidnapping plan.