A prominent business figure, media mogul Stephen Small, met a tragic end when he was buried alive in a 6ft box during a botched kidnapping incident. Small, the scion of a wealthy family with strong ties to the media industry, was targeted by a small-time drug dealer named Danny Edwards, who sought a $1 million ransom.
Initially planning to hold Small captive in rural Chicago until the ransom was paid, the scheme took a deadly turn. Edwards, posing as a police officer, abducted Small and coerced his wife, Nancy, for the ransom. Despite several ransom demands, the family struggled to decipher the instructions left by the kidnappers.
Desperate to keep Small alive, Edwards buried him in a makeshift box in a forest, with Nancy reluctantly assisting under threat of harm to her child. Eventually, law enforcement tracked down Edwards and Nancy, leading to their arrest days after the heinous crime in 1987.
In a recent turn of events, Nancy Rish, following a change in legislation, was released from prison after proving she was a victim of intimate partner violence. Edwards, initially sentenced to death for Small’s murder, saw his punishment commuted to a life term. Rish expressed remorse for her involvement in the crime, attributing her actions to coercion and fear for her child’s safety.
Rish’s defense team successfully petitioned for a reduced sentence, citing the long-lasting impact of domestic violence on victims. Emphasizing Rish’s character and the manipulative nature of Edwards, the defense argued for a more lenient sentence based on her traumatic experiences.
After a judicial review, Rish’s concurrent 70-year and 30-year sentences for murder and kidnapping were reduced by 50%. The Small family did not object to this decision, and Rish was released in February 2022, placed on parole for three years thereafter.