DECATUR, Ill. (WAND) — The former mother-in-law of Karyn Hearn Slover died in custody Wednesday, according to the Illinois Innocence Project.
Jeannette Slover, 77, her husband Michael Slover, Sr., and her son Michael Slover, Jr. were convicted in 2002 for the murder of Michael Jr.'s ex-wife, Karyn.
Karyn Hearn Slover
Michael Sr. died in prison in the summer of 2022. Michael Jr. was paroled in the spring of 2024.
The murder of Karyn Hearn Slover was the subject of local and national attention in 1996. The 23-year-old mother of one disappeared after leaving her job at the Decatur Herald and Review. Her dismembered body was found two days later in plastic bags at Lake Shelbyville.
Jeannette and Michael Jr. were being assisted by the Illinois Innocence Project, which filed an Amended Petition for Post-Conviction Relief in 2024.
The petition stated that new DNA evidence was linked to three unknown men who could have committed the murder.
Related Links
- Man convicted in 1996 killing, dismemberment of his daughter-in-law found dead in prison
- Innocence Project Seeking to Appeal Convictions in Slover Case
- Judge rules evidence in 1996 Decatur murder worth DNA testing
- Evidence hearing Monday afternoon in Slover case
- Petition filed seeks to overturn murder convictions in Karyn Slover case
A release from Jeannette's legal team, the Illinois Innocence Project, the Exoneration Project, Steve Beckett Law Office and Peter Wise at Gates, Wise, Schlosser & Goebel, said in part, "Jeannette and her family deserve justice. The victim of this murder, Karyn Slover, also deserves justice by having the actual perpetrators held accountable for her death.
"We were proud to have known and represented Jeannette. We will continue to fight for the justice Jeannette, her husband and her son were denied."
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