Andrew Kokoraleis

Serial Killer

Andrew Kokoraleis and the Chicago Ripper Crew

Background

Andrew Kokoraleis was an American serial killer and a member of the group commonly known as the Chicago Ripper Crew. The group operated in Chicago and its surrounding suburbs during the early 1980s. Its known members were Andrew Kokoraleis, his brother Thomas Kokoraleis, Robin Gecht and Edward Spreitzer. Investigators connected the men to a series of abductions, sexual assaults, mutilations and murders involving women who were taken from public places and transported to secluded locations. The crimes attributed to the group were notable for their repeated pattern. Women traveling alone were approached or forced into a vehicle, usually a reddish-orange van owned by Gecht. They were then driven to isolated fields, alleys, construction sites or other locations where they were assaulted and attacked with knives, axes or ice picks. Several victims suffered extensive injuries to the chest, and prosecutors argued that the similarities demonstrated a recognizable method of operation. Kokoraleis eventually gave investigators several statements describing his participation in the crimes. He later withdrew those statements and claimed that police officers had supplied him with details, threatened him and forced him to confess. Juries nevertheless accepted the prosecution's evidence and convicted him of murdering Rose Beck Davis and Lorraine "Lori" Borowski. Evidence concerning the murders of Linda Sutton and Shui Mak was also introduced during his trials to demonstrate the repeated pattern of the group's attacks.

Known Victims Connected to Andrew Kokoraleis

• Linda Sutton May 23, 1981 Chicago and Villa Park, Illinois: Twenty-six-year-old Linda Sutton disappeared from Chicago on the evening of May 23, 1981. Her body was discovered on June 1 in a field behind the Brer Rabbit Motel in an unincorporated area near Villa Park. Her hands had been restrained behind her back, and her clothing had been disturbed. An autopsy determined that she died from stab wounds and the resulting blood loss. Portions of her chest were missing. Although the condition was initially attributed to decomposition or animal activity, a later review concluded that the injuries were consistent with deliberate amputation. Kokoraleis gave several accounts in which he placed himself, Robin Gecht and Edward Spreitzer at the scene, though the details of his statements varied.
• Lorraine "Lori" Borowski May 15, 1982 Elmhurst and Darien, Illinois: Twenty-one-year-old Lori Borowski disappeared while arriving for work at a real estate office in Elmhurst on the morning of May 15, 1982. Her employer found her shoes, keys, cosmetics, coins and a small hand tool scattered on the pavement outside the office. Her skeletal remains were discovered on October 10, 1982, in an unused section of a cemetery in Darien. Examination of the remains revealed multiple wounds consistent with stabbing by a knife or ice pick, as well as a fractured nasal bone. Kokoraleis told investigators that he and Edward Spreitzer had forced Borowski into a van, driven her to the cemetery, beaten and stabbed her, and dragged her body into weeds. He was convicted of her murder and aggravated kidnapping.
• Shui Mak May 30, 1982 Western Cook County, Illinois: Thirty-year-old Shui Mak disappeared during the early morning hours of May 30, 1982, while returning to Lombard from her family's restaurant in Streamwood. Her skeletal remains were found on September 30 in a wooded area near a housing development in northwestern Cook County. An autopsy revealed multiple skull fractures caused by blunt-force trauma, broken ribs and a completely severed forearm bone. Kokoraleis stated that he and Edward Spreitzer encountered a woman walking alone, offered her a ride and transported her to an isolated construction area. According to his statement, the woman was dragged from the van, beaten and attacked. Kokoraleis later denied that his confession was truthful.
• Rose Beck Davis September 8, 1982 Chicago, Illinois: Rose Beck Davis, a marketing executive from Broadview, was found dead on September 8, 1982, in an alley or gangway near the 1200 block of North Lake Shore Drive in Chicago. She had been abducted, sexually assaulted, beaten and fatally stabbed. Kokoraleis was prosecuted in Cook County for her murder. Prosecutors presented his statement describing how Davis was taken from a Chicago street and assaulted after being driven to a secluded gangway. A jury convicted Kokoraleis of four murder counts, two counts of rape and two counts of aggravated kidnapping arising from Davis's killing. The jury rejected the death penalty in that case, and he received a sentence of life imprisonment without parole.

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Confirmed Victims: (6)

Linda Sutton Age: (31), Date of Death: May 23, 1981

People v. Kokoraleis :: 1989 :: Supreme Court of Illinois Decisions