Chicago Man Served 19 Years in Jail for Crime of Twin Brother

Chicago resident Kevin Dugar, 44, who spent nearly two decades behind bars for murder in 2003, has been released after his identical twin confessed to the crime. NBC.

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An emotional Kevin Dugar burst into tears as he was released and reunited with his loved ones, his lawyer Ronald Safer said.

“The judge released him on bail pending trial, he walked out into the open air and took his first breath as a free man in almost 20 years,” Safer said. “It was nice to see how tears of joy rolled down the cheeks of the relatives and Dugar.”

Dugar spent almost 20 years in prison after being found guilty in 2003 of killing a member of a rival gang. A gunman opened fire on three people in Chicago's Uptown neighborhood during an incident in March 2003, killing Antwan Carter and injuring Ronnie Bolden.

Dugar was convicted in 2005 and sentenced to 54 years in prison. For years he maintained his innocence. Ehis fate seemed sealed. But Dugar was waiting for a new plot twist "more unreal than even fiction," as Safer said. Dugar's twin brother, Carl Smith, confessed to the murder. The confession was first made in a letter to Dugar in 2013, almost ten years after he was convicted.

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Initially, the confession had little effect on Dugar's case: in 2018, a judge ruled that Smith's confession was not credible and refused to offer his twin a new trial.

Smith's appeal was denied because he was serving a 99-year sentence for a home invasion that resulted in a child being shot in the head. Prosecutors questioned the motives for his confession, telling the judge that he only spoke after the court upheld his own conviction for attempted murder.

However, a lawyer for the Northwestern Pritzker Law School's Center for Wrongful Convictions brought Dugar's case back to court. And now, after the decision on February 1, he will have a second chance to prove his innocence.

Safer said he hoped the case, which he described as a "made-for-television" story, would be closed against his charge.

“We hope the (Cook County) state's attorney will drop the case against Kevin because he is innocent,” he said. “It is clear that he is innocent, but if they persist, we will stand trial and acquit him.”

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Meanwhile, Safer said that Dugar spends his free time with his loved ones, wrestling with the reality of lost time.

“You know, you would think that this is just absolute joy, but the adaptation, the wounds caused by wrongful imprisonment are deep and lasting, and this period of adaptation can last a lifetime, but especially in the early days it is very, very difficult,” said Safer.

"So he enjoys his freedom, but it's a difficult adjustment," he said.

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