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Family Who Lost Kids Says They Can't Forgive Ryan

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Sep 8, 2006 11:32 am US/Central

Family Who Lost Kids Says They Can't Forgive Ryan

Prosecutors Oppose Effort To Keep Ryan Free Pending Appeal

Complete Text Of Scott And Janet Willis' Letters

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CHICAGO (CBS) ―

Click to enlarge 1 of 2: George Ryan and his wife Lura Lynn leaving the courthouse after he was sentenced Wednesday.
CBS
Click to enlarge 2 of 2: Scott and Janet Willis at the day Gov. Ryan's verdict was read last April.
CBS

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Former Gov. George Ryan Sentenced To 6 1/2 Years (Sept. 7, 2006)
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Ryan Expected To Serve Sentence At Wis. Prison(Sept. 6, 2006)
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Former Gov. Ryan To Be Sentenced Wednesday (Sept. 5, 2006)
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The parents of six children killed in a fiery 1994 crash say they're still waiting for former Gov. George Ryan to say he's sorry.

Until then, the Rev. Scott Willis and Janet Willis say they cannot forgive him.

The Willises weren't allowed to address the court before Ryan was sentenced Wednesday to 6 1/2 years in prison. But the judge let them submit written statements.

"My wife and I have a strong desire to forgive Gov. Ryan but it must be on an honest basis: sorrow and admission," Scott Willis wrote to Pallmeyer in a letter published in the Chicago Tribune's Friday editions. "Even a 6-year-old boy knows when he's done wrong he needs to be truly sorry, and admit it. Then forgiveness and mercy can be graciously offered."

The letters describe, sometimes in agonizing detail, the suffering the Willises have endured since the day a heavy steel part broke off of a truck and slid under the van carrying their family. The steel piece ripped open the van's gas tank and set it ablaze. Six of their children -- Benjamin, Joseph, Samuel, Hank, Elizabeth and Peter -- died.

"I saw my son moments later lying on the street as people tried to help him. He hardly looked like my Ben," Janet Willis wrote. "His hair and eyebrows were gone, his burned lips made it hard for him to talk. But I was grateful to be able to talk with him, a brief sentence or two."

Investigators found evidence that the truck driver was unqualified to be behind the wheel but had gotten his license through a payoff at the secretary of state's corruption-riddled McCook licensing station.

Federal prosecutors eventually traced thousands of dollars in payoff money to the Citizens for Ryan campaign fund.

"How could this happen? How could a man, a father, a public servant allow this?" Scott Willis wrote. "... (D)ecisions concerning life and death were not decided on principle but on politics."

Meanwhile, federal prosecutors say they will oppose a request that Ryan remain free on bond during his appeal. Prosecutors said Ryan should report to prison on Jan. 4 as scheduled.

Appeal bonds are rarely granted, but U.S. District Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer is considering the request.

Pallmeyer is also defending her decision to replace three jurors during Ryan's trial earlier this year. She ruled on Thursday that jury problems were not enough to throw out the guilty verdict.

The judge said she took precautions to make sure the reconstituted jury would be able to do its job fairly.

Look for a report on the Willis letters today from CBS 2's Mike Parker.