Chicago

‘Ripper Crew' Killer Registers Address in Aurora, Police Say

Thomas Kokoraleis was sentenced to life in prison for the 1982 slaying of 21-year-old Lorraine "Lorry" Ann Borowski

A convicted murderer and member of the notorious “Ripper Crew” has officially registered a sex offender and has moved into a facility in suburban Aurora, according to officials.

Thomas Kokoraleis, 58, who was released from prison last week, used a Christian mission as his address in Aurora, according to police.

“Kokoraleis came into the Aurora Police Department this morning and registered on the Illinois Sex Offender Registry,” the department said in a statement. “He was required to register by tomorrow morning, so by registering today he was in compliance.”

Kokoraleis used Wayside Cross Ministries as his address, according to the department.

The 58-year-old was sentenced to life in prison for the 1982 slaying of 21-year-old Lorraine Ann Borowski. After his initial conviction was wiped out, he pleaded guilty on appeal in exchange for a 70-year prison term, and this week he was released from the Illinois River Correction Center outside of Peoria.

Kokoraleis is affiliated with four other suburban men who identified as members of the "Ripper Crew" that abducted and tortured at least 17 women as part of the satanic cult in the early 1980s. Borowski, of Elmhurst, disappeared in May 1982. Her body was found five months later in a shallow grave.

Prosecutors tried to have Kokoraleis classified as a “sexually violent person,” which would have prevented him from being released from prison, but were unsuccessful in their efforts.

"Mr. Kokoraleis was evaluated by extremely experienced psychologists and a psychiatrist who found he did not meet the necessary criteria – having a mental disorder that makes him violent and being highly likely to commit future acts of sexual violence – that would enable us to bring a petition to find him sexually violent under state law,” DuPage County States Attorney Robert Berlin said.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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