Anthony Holmes

Anthony Holmes was arrested for murder in 1973 by police Cmdr. Jon Burge and two other detectives.

Holmes said he confessed to a 1972 murder after being tortured by Burge during an hours-long session involving electroshock from what would become the infamous “black box” torture machine. Police, prosecutors and courts over many years did not believe Holmes’ story, and he was convicted and served more than 30 years in prison for that crime and others that came after his parole.

Prosecutors sought to discredit Holmes by pointing to his ties as a leader in the Gangster Disciples and Royal Family gangs, where he was known by the nickname of “Satan.”

After Holmes’ story of torture was brought to light by attorneys at the People’s Law Office, his testimony became a crucial turning point in finding dozens of other problematic episodes at the hands of Burge or those under his command. Holmes spent years advocating for a reparations fund in Chicago, eventually realized, and played a key role in Burge’s 2010 trial, when the former police commander was convicted of perjury.

Arrest, torture and conviction

On May 30, 1973, police kicked the doors of Holmes’ house in, put a shotgun to his head and a knee on his neck, and threatened to kill him if he moved. After he was placed under arrest, he was taken to the Area 2 police station and tortured by Burge and two other detectives, Holmes later testified.

Police later alleged that he confessed to orchestrating the killing of Joseph Murphy in 1972 because he intended to testify against Holmes’ brother-in-law, Luther Colburn. Holmes told police that he drove four men to the Bus Stop lounge, who told him “it’s done” when they returned to his car. (The original court case documents were not available, but a summary of the case is included in a special prosecutor investigator’s report).

Holmes was convicted on the basis of that confession, which he said for years was extracted under torture, and which was the only evidence against him.

In a July 2016 interview with journalist Amanda Rivkin, Holmes recalled the events of 1973. He remembered seeing a black box with wires hanging out of it. “They said, ‘Nigger, we got something for you.’ He plugged it into the wall and came towards me. ... He said, ‘You’re going to tell us what we want to know.’”

During interrogation and torture, Burge insisted Holmes not bite through a bag being used to suffocate him. Holmes did, though, bite through the bag to try to breathe — and the detectives repeatedly replaced it, causing him to pass out multiple times. Detective John Yucaitis joined Burge in subjecting Holmes to electrotorture and in hurling racist abuse at Holmes. Holmes passed out multiple times during interrogation, he said, describing a death-like sensation where he was “burning on the inside” as a result of a feeling “like a thousand needles” going through his body every time Burge shocked him with the “black box” torture device.

He said in the interview with Rivkin, “They finally broke me down. I said, ‘I’ll say anything you want to hear. You want me to say I killed the president, I’ll say that too.’ They broke me.”

Burge and the other detectives who were involved — Michael Hoke and William Wagner — were issued commendations from the police department for their “skillful questioning” in the case, according to WBEZ.

According to police, Holmes’ confession led to a takedown of the Royal Family gang, whose members were charged in an array of crimes including five homicides, an armed robbery that left a police officer shot, and other felony crimes.

Deep Badge and the PLO

The discovery of Holmes’ torture is tied to the investigation that unraveled Burge’s torture ring of nearly 20 years and the initial letters sent by a police source still only known as “Deep Badge” to the People’s Law Office (PLO) attorney Flint Taylor. Deep Badge was an Area 2 police source who dropped letters to the PLO’s Taylor as he represented two brothers, Andrew and Jackie Wilson, accused of killing two police officers, William Fahey and Richard O’Brien, in 1982.

The letters alerted Taylor to the fact that Burge had used electroshock on suspects prior to the Wilson brothers and directed them to a man named Melvin Jones, another torture survivor. Jones told the PLO that nine days before Andrew Wilson was electrocuted by Burge, the device had been used on him. The PLO located a court transcript afterward that indicated Burge had asked Jones during interrogation if he knew “Satan” or “Cochise.” Additionally, under questioning over what Burge had asked him, Jones had stated, “They both had the same treatment, you know. He was telling me what kind of guys they was as far as supposed to be being, you know, kind of tough or something.” The PLO decided to search for “Satan” and found Holmes at Stateville Correctional Center.

Holmes spent a little over three decades in prison before being released on parole in 2004. That same year, he described the torture and false confession to the PLO during a deposition.

Burge Trial and Reparations

Because of the length of time Holmes was incarcerated and as the first known electrotorture victim, the statute of limitations on his claims of torture against Burge had expired.

Holmes testified against Burge at his federal perjury trial in 2010 as one of five survivors the jury heard from prior to convicting Burge. “I didn’t know if it was daytime or nighttime. He just kept shocking me,” Holmes told the jury.

On April 14, 2015, Holmes testified before the Chicago City Council in conjunction with the Burge Reparations Ordinance, which was ultimately passed. “His problem was he let me live,” Holmes said. During his testimony, Holmes described the immense toll the torture and the years of incarceration had taken on him and his family.

“I tried to get some help throughout the years, but no one listened to me because they thought the police was right,” he told the council.

—Written by Amanda Rivkin and Jeremy Borden