William "Jamie" Kunz, '72: 1938-2016

William "Jamie" Kunz, a longtime public defender in Cook and DuPage counties, kept a client's confession to a murder secret for 26 years, leaving an innocent man in prison for a crime he did not commit.

Kunz and fellow public defender Dale Coventry held fast to the legal principle of attorney-client privilege until the death of their client, Andrew Wilson, freed them to tell what they knew. Alton Logan, who was serving a life sentence for the crime to which Wilson confessed, was subsequently freed and the charges against him were dismissed.

"He never wavered in his decision," said Kunz's niece Kristen Vehill. "He believed strongly in the law."

Kunz, 78, a longtime resident of Winfield, died of cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in Wynscape Health and Rehabilitation in Wheaton on Nov. 20, Vehill said.

Kunz grew up in the Chicago area and graduated from Maine South High School in Park Ridge. He went to Yale University and was working on a doctorate in linguistics at Indiana University when he decided he wanted a career that would be of more service to people.

He wound up in the Peace Corps and was sent to the African nation of Malawi, where he taught English. He then got a law degree from the University of Chicago and went to work for the Cook County public defender's office.

Attorney Tom Decker met Kunz when he was in law school and had volunteered for a program which introduced him to attorneys practicing in federal court. "He instinctively knew that he belonged in some sort of pro bono office," Decker said.

In January 1982, security guard Lloyd Wickliffe was shot to death during a robbery of a South Side McDonald's restaurant. Alton Logan and another man were arrested on the testimony of witnesses and subsequently convicted of the murder.

At the time, Kunz and Coventry were assistant public defenders representing Wilson, who was charged in the slaying of two Chicago police officers. During interviews, Wilson told the attorneys he shot Wickliffe and that Logan was not involved. Kunz and Coventry recorded the information in a notarized affidavit, which Coventry kept in a locked metal box.

The two lawyers were bound by attorney-client privilege not to disclose what they knew, but Wilson agreed they could release his statement after his death. Wilson, who wound up serving a life sentence for the police killings, died in prison in November 2007.

Kunz and Coventry testified in court in early 2008 and Logan walked out of prison in April.

Vehill said Kunz was firm in his belief that if he didn't honor client confidences, his clients wouldn't trust him. But Vehill said her uncle was surprised by widespread criticism of the decision he and Coventry made.

"I think he was truly quite unprepared for the reaction," Vehill said.

Kunz left the Cook County public defender's office in 1994 for DuPage County, where he was a senior public defender, according to friend and former prosecutor John Burg.

"Jamie was a transformative figure," Burg said. "He saw the good in all people. If there was good in someone, he would make you see it."

Kunz handled several other high-profile cases over the years. In the 1980s, he defended Hutchie Moore, a former Chicago police officer who shot and killed a judge and an attorney in a Daley Center courtroom after a ruling in a divorce case went against him. Burg said it was just assumed Moore would get the death penalty.

"Somehow, Jamie got the guy natural life," Burg said. "The state's attorney's office couldn't believe it."

Kunz also bought a small Chicago firehouse, renting out one half and living in the other, Decker said. "It still had a pole in it," Decker recalled. "As far as I know, nobody was badly injured."

Survivors include a brother, Pete.

There will be a memorial gathering 3 to 6 p.m. Saturday at Norris-Segert Funeral Home, 132 Fremont St., West Chicago.