'Ripper Crew' member on parole, living in 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, convicted of the 1982 murder of Lorraine "Lorry" Ann Borowski, of Elmhurst, was released from prison Friday after serving half of a 70-year sentence. On Sunday, Kokoraleis went to 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, Aurora Police Sgt. Bill Rowley confirmed.

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 amputated, and she had been stabbed with an ice pick, according to police.

Kokoraleis admitted to participating in Borowski’s abduction. Although 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. Sentencing laws at the time required he serve 50 percent of his 70-year sentence.

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

He originally was sentenced to death, but that was commuted to life in prison, along with all other death sentences, by former Gov. George Ryan.

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.