Nancy Rish, serving life-sentence for 1987 killing, wins appeal and another shot at freedom

A woman serving a life sentence for the 1987 kidnapping and murder of Stephen Small, a Kankakee businessman who suffocated after being buried alive, was given another chance to challenge her sentence after her appeal was granted Thursday, according to the Illinois appellate court.

Nancy Rish filed a petition in December 2017 that asked for a resentencing hearing to allow the court to consider evidence of domestic violence. Her attorneys argued she was coerced by ex-boyfriend Daniel Edwards into driving him and that she was unaware of his kidnapping plan. On Thursday, the appellate court ruled in Rish’s favor, asking for a new judge who has not ruled over Rish’s case previously if the state tries to appeal the ruling.

“This is the first time in 33½ years that she’s gotten a ruling that may result in her sentence being reduced from natural life,” said Margaret Byrne, a private attorney who is representing Rish pro bono with Steven Becker.

Rish was convicted of helping with the plot hatched by Edwards, a small-time Kankakee drug dealer, to kidnap Small, the 40-year-old heir to a local media fortune. Edwards took him to a rural area and buried him in a 6-by-3-foot wooden box outfitted with an air pipe, but Small suffocated. Edwards made calls from pay phones to demand money, and police used call-tracing devices and surveillance to nab Edwards and Rish days after the kidnapping.

Rish was sentenced to life in prison after a jury trial in 1988.

Edwards was convicted and sentenced to death, though his punishment was commuted to a life term by then-Gov. George Ryan — Small’s neighbor — as Illinois moved toward ending the death penalty.

Rish, now 59 and an inmate at Logan Correctional Center in Lincoln, has maintained her innocence through more than three decades of legal losses.

In the petition, Rish’s attorneys argued that Edwards had threatened to kill her and her son if she didn’t help him. The petition also details that Rish grew up in a domestic abuse household, where her father was an alcoholic and physically and mentally abused Rish’s mother.

The opinion released Thursday states that the state maintained that the trial court’s sentence rested on the “horrific nature of the crime in which (defendant) played an integral part” and that the evidence of domestic violence could not overcome the seriousness of the crime.

“She’s a good person. She’s moral. She’s honest. She’s decent, and this guy was a conniving drug dealer who was looking to make money quickly,” Byrne said. “The domestic abuse that she suffered throughout her life, including Edwards, is highly relevant.”

Should a court date be set in Kankakee, Byrne said the defense has about a week’s worth of witnesses they can present, including her client, Edwards, a former prison warden and former fellow prisoners.

“We really do not want to lose sight for one second of the suffering of the Small family. Nancy is very aware and says she prays for them every day,” Byrne said. “The family suffered unspeakably and it was Edwards’ sole fault.”