The woman accused by Barton McNeil of killing his 3-year-old daughter — a crime that sent him to prison for 99 years — denied during a dramatic post-conviction hearing on Tuesday that she was responsible for the girl’s death.
Misook Nowlin arrived in McLean County court from the Logan Correctional Center where she is serving 55 years for killing her mother-in-law Linda Tyda in 2011 in Bloomington. McNeil showed no reaction to Nowlin’s testimony, the first time the two had been together since her testimony at his trial 24 years ago.
McNeil is seeking a new trial based on what his lawyers argue is new evidence developed since his conviction in the death of Christina McNeil. The child’s lifeless body was found by her father in her bed after an overnight stay at his apartment. WGLT covered the case in the 2018 podcast Suspect Convictions.
The evidentiary hearing comes more than a decade after the Illinois Innocence Project agreed to help McNeil fight his conviction. The Exoneration Project has since joined the legal team.
Before Nowlin took the witness stand, Judge William Yoder appointed the public defender’s office to represent her for the hearing, based on a pending appeal in her murder case. Nowlin told the judge she had consulted with her state appellate attorney and she intended to assert her constitutional right to avoid self-incrimination.
Attorney Karl Leonard with the Exoneration Project asked Nowlin a series of questions about her romantic relationship with McNeil.
“I don’t want to talk about anything right now,” Nowlin told the lawyer. The witness responded “I plead my 5th" in response to a dozen other questions. When asked directly if she killed Christina, Nowlin said, “I never killed Christina McNeil.”
The issues covered during the three-hour hearing were limited to a statement made to two women by Nowlin’s former husband, Don Wang, about an alleged confession Misook Nowlin made to killing Christina. Nowlin’s daughter Michelle Spencer and Spencer’s stepmother, Dawn Nowlin, provided affidavits in 2013 stating that Wang told them about the alleged confession at a celebration of life event for Tyda.
In her testimony, Spencer described McNeil as “a nice guy” who “was like a father to me” during the time his mother dated him. As to Christina, Spencer said,”I saw her as my sister. I loved her very much.”
The comment from Wang about a confession was random and “out of the blue,” said Spencer.
“You know what your mom told me one time? That she had killed Christina,” said Spencer, quoting Wang.
Spencer said Wang’s statement caught her off guard. When asked how she feels about it today, Spencer said, “it’s not something I wake up and think about first thing in the morning.”
The witness said she is her mother’s “full support system right now” and speaks to her weekly.
Yoder refused to allow McNeil’s lawyers to ask questions about Nowlin’s history of physical abuse against her daughter. Spencer described her childhood as “a mixture” of good and bad times. She said she came to accept the bad times as part of her life. “I definitely don’t treat my children the same way,” she said.
Illinois Innocence Project lawyer John Hanlon told Yoder that McNeil “served as a shield for Michelle” against her abusive mother. Affidavits from McNeil’s murder case indicate Michelle Nowlin was left bruised after her mother hit her with a wooden paper towel holder. The child later told a child welfare worker about threats from her mother including, “I will kill you tonight,” Hanlon told the judge.
In her testimony, Dawn Nowlin confirmed the alleged confession statement by Don Wang. Nowlin’s confession came during “a very heated argument and she said that she killed Christina,” according Dawn Nowlin’s to testimony about Wang’s statement.
Lawyers for McNeil said an attempt was made to serve a subpoena on Don Wang for the hearing, but he could not be located.
Wang’s statements about the alleged confession were presented in court in a video interview he gave to police after his mother’s death. The 11 minutes of a 40-minute interview played by First Assistant State’s Attorney Brad Rigdon during the testimony of retired Bloomington police detective Steven Fanelli showed Wang in a police interview room.
When asked by the detective if his wife had confessed to killing the child, Wang paused, then replied, “not to my knowledge.”
The defense played a second portion of the video in which Wang was asked if he thought his estranged wife had killed his mother. He said he did not know, but as to her capability to perform such a violent act, Wang said, “absolutely. She killed my mother.”
In opening remarks, McNeil’s lawyer Lauren Myerscough-Mueller predicted the hearing would produce “powerful evidence that Misook Nowlin killed Christina.” McNeil’s conviction was “a classic case of circumstantial evidence,” said the defense lawyer, quoting Judge Michael Prall’s decision to convict McNeil in 1999.
Rigdon disagreed with a defense opinion that Wang “waffled” during his statement to police. The information cited by the defense does not merit a new trial, said the prosecutor.
In comments to reporters after the hearing, Leonard said, “I think today was a big day for Bart,” adding that the judge “has an important decision to make based on new evidence.”
McNeil’s cousin Chris Ross, surrounded by a large group of supporters that included families of other McLean County defendants who have pending post-conviction petitions, said “the totality of the evidence shows Bart is innocent and Misook Nowlin is guilty.”
The husband of murder victim Linda Tyda told reporters it was difficult to watch his wife’s killer on the witness stand.
“It should have never happened,” Tyda said of his wife’s death.
Tyda said he began communicating with McNeil’s family after Nowlin was arrested and is convinced of McNeil’s innocence.
“I hope he gets a new trial. He deserves it,” said Tyda.
Yoder took the case under advisement and said he will issue a written ruling.
