CHICAGO (FOX 32 News) -
A former security guard cleared of a deadly arson that killed a woman and her five children was released from prison Thursday afternoon.
Cook County prosecutors dropped charges Wednesday against 46-year-old James Kluppelberg, saying that, based on new forensic evidence, the office was unable to prove he committed the crime.
At the time of Kluppelberg's 1988 conviction, Francis Burns, a former Chicago Fire Department official, theorized that the blaze in the 4400 block of South Hermitage was ignited by someone setting a pile of newspapers and rags on fire and concluded that the burn patterns showed the 1984 fire was an arson.
But advances in science prove that Burns' theory is impossible, according to members of the Northwestern University Law School Exoneration Project.
The state's attorney's office said it dismissed the charges against Kluppelberg following "a comprehensive post-conviction re-investigation which included the hiring of an expert to evaluate the forensic evidence in the case."
"Based on this review of recent evidence and scientific analysis stemming from this re-investigation, the state's attorney's office has determined that it is unable to meet its burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt and moved to dismiss the charges in this case."
Kluppelberg was sentenced in 1990 to life in prison for the fire that killed Elva Lupercio, 28, and her five children: Santos Jr., 10; Cristobel, 6; Sonia, 8; Yadira, 4; and Annabel, 3.
Lupercio's husband, Santos Sr., fell out a window to safety but suffered a fractured skull, a dislocated shoulder and burns.
During the initial investigation, the police determined the fire was an accident and a witness falsely claimed he watched Kluppelberg go back and forth to the scene, said Exoneration Project members, who uncovered evidence that there may have been another suspect.
Kluppelberg was released from Menard Correctional Center around noon and flew into O'Hare Thursday night.
Sun-Times Media Wire contributed to this report.
