Apr 17, 2006 6:38 pm US/Central
Willis Family Reacts To Ryan Guilty Verdict
Six Children Killed In License For Bribes Catalyst
by Jon Duncanson
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
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The scene of the 1994 accident.
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Dan Willis leaves the Dirksen Federal Building Monday.
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Rev. Scott Willis and his wife (File Photo)
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The Willis' six children (File Photo)
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Dan Willis was in court Monday morning to hear the verdict against former governor George Ryan and his co-defendant Larry Warner.
Willis' six siblings were killed in a 1994 accident near Milwaukee that in many ways sparked the investigation. The driver responsible for that accident bought his commercial drivers license.
CBS 2's Jon Duncanson spoke with the children's father, Rev. Scott Willis
On the longest walk for former Gov. George Ryan Monday, he was asked what he was thinking.
"Get out of my way," he replied.
Staying out of everyone's way on Monday was a quiet young man named Dan Willis, whose family is so pivotal to this case and was the first human face of this long ordeal.
The guilty verdicts are the result of a long and winding legal road in the Licenses for Bribes scandal that started with the Willis family's tragic crash.
In November 1994, a part off a truck near Milwaukee, causing a fiery accident that killed six children of the Rev. Scott Willis. Rev. Willis and his wife survived. The driver of the truck had bought his license in what came to be the License for Bribes scandal.
An investigation into that crash led the feds to Dean Bauer in 2000. He was inspector general when Ryan was secretary of state. Bauer was indicted for hiding evidence of scandals to save Ryan from embarrassment.
On Monday, Dan Willis, who was not in the van, wasn't talking. But his father, Rev. Scott Willis, told CBS 2 from his Tennessee home that he and his wife cried at the jury's decision.
"When we listened to George Ryan after the verdict, he had no remorse. He took no responsibility. The arrogance is still there," Scott Willis said.
The Willis case never made it in front of the jury, but was a catalyst nonetheless. It centered on the first racketeering charge – the attempt to scuttle the investigation into the Willis case.
Rev. Willis told CBS 2 that the guilty verdict means "the door is closed for us."
As for the governor's expected appeal, Willis says, "That door is not locked, and we'd like to lock it."
The Rev. and Mrs. Willis told CBS 2 Monday they were unprepared for the verdict. It was extremely emotional and both cried. They say even though they lost six of their nine children to what became the License for Bribes Scandal, they are not looking for an apology from the governor. They are, they say, looking for an admission, something they didn't see.
(© MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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