'Ripper Crew' member living in Aurora

AURORA – A recently released convicted murderer who was part of the infamous "Ripper Crew" has registered as a sex offender and is living at a halfway house in Aurora run by Wayside Cross Ministries.

Thomas Kokoraleis – who was convicted of the 1982 murder of Lorraine "Lorry" Ann Borowski of Elmhurst – was released on Friday from prison after serving only half of his 70-year sentence. On Sunday, Kokoraleis went into the Aurora Police Department to register as a sex offender and is now living at a facility at 215 E. New York St. in downtown Aurora run by Wayside Cross Ministries, Sgt. Bill Rowley, public information officer for the Aurora Police Department, confirmed in an email.

Kokoraleis was convicted of the May 15, 1982, murder of Borowski, 21, of Elmhurst, after she was abducted near a former location of RE/MAX at Route 83 and St. Charles Road in Elmhurst where she worked.

Her remains were discovered five months later, on Oct. 10, at the Clarendon Hills Cemetery in Darien. Her left breast was absent, and there was evidence that indicated trauma from an ice pick, according to police.

Kokoraleis admitted to participating in Borowski’s abduction. While he denied he was involved in her rape and murder, Kokoraleis admitted he was present while his brother, Andrew Kokoraleis, and Edward Spreitzer raped and murdered Borowski, officials said.

Thomas Kokoraleis was convicted based on the accountability theory, which means he was held accountable for acts committed by other individuals.

He was sentenced to 70 years in prison for the murder, but he was only required to serve 50 percent of his sentence, based on sentencing laws in effect at that time.

Andrew Kokoraleis was convicted of the murders of Borowski and Rose Davis, and he was executed in 1999. Spreitzer was convicted of the murders of Linda Sutton, Shui Mak, Rose Davis, Sandra Delaware and Raphael Tiradao, and he is serving a natural life prison sentence with no possibility of parole.

He originally was given a death sentence that was commuted when former Gov. George Ryan commuted all death sentences in Illinois. Robin Gecht was convicted of the attempted murder, rape, aggravated kidnapping and deviate sexual assault of a woman, and he is eligible for parole in 2042.

The Ripper Crew was known for the abduction, rape, mutilation and murder of several women in cannibalistic rituals in the early 1980s in the Chicago area. The group was made up of Thomas and Andrew Kokoraleis, Spreitzer and Gecht.