McLean County Bill Tops $500K on Beaman Lawsuit

McLean County says it has spent more than half a million dollars on a federal lawsuit filed by a man whose murder conviction was overturned after he spent 13 years in prison.

According to the Pantagraph newspaper in Bloomington, the central Illinois county has spent $520,000 on the lawsuit filed by Alan Beaman. The town of Normal says it had spent about $50,000 as of last November.

Beaman was convicted of the 1993 strangulation death of his former girlfriend, Illinois State University student Jennifer Lockmiller.

But the Illinois Supreme Court reversed his conviction in 2008 based on DNA testing that pointed to two previously unknown potential suspects.

Beaman's lawsuit seeks unspecified damages from a retired judge and a current as well as several current and former law enforcement officials.