Board denies parole to man convicted of kidnapping, rape and murder of young women in McHenry and Cook counties

The Prison Conditions Review Board has denied parole to a serial killer convicted of kidnapping, raping and brutally murdering three young women in McHenry and Cook counties.

The Illinois Prisoner Review Board on Thursday denied 75-year-old Mark Smith’s parole application.

In 1970, Smith was convicted of three separate murders in Illinois.

Prosecutors said in each of the three incidents he kidnapped, raped and brutally murdered a young woman.

Two of the murders occurred in McHenry County. The third occurred in Cook County.

Smith was sentenced to a total of 500 years in prison in the Illinois Department of Corrections for the three murders.

In Illinois, defendants sentenced to life imprisonment prior to 1978 are eligible for parole after serving 20 years of their sentence.

Every three to five years, the Illinois Prisoner Review Board considers Smith’s application for parole.

The trial requires the victims’ families to “relive the nightmare of Smith’s possible release,” the McHenry County State’s Attorney’s Office said.

Smith was additionally convicted of the rape and murder of another woman in Arkansas.

He also confessed to several murders of young women in Germany, where he was stationed in the armed forces in 1969, prosecutors said.

The McHenry County District Attorney’s Office invited several family members of the three Illinois victims to voice their objections to the parole board at an Aug. 21 appeal hearing.

Criminal Division Chief William Bruce represented the McHenry County District Attorney’s Office on behalf of all victims in Illinois, including the Cook County victim, since the Cook County District Attorney’s Office no longer participates in parole hearings.

McHenry County District Attorney Patrick Kenneally said he recognized the “sincere and forceful objections” presented to the Illinois Prisoner Review Board by the victims’ families, as well as numerous letters submitted by the public opposing Smith’s parole.

Following the parole board’s decision, Kenneally said he was “very grateful” the board denied Smith’s parole application and granted his office’s request to extend his next parole hearing from three to five years, providing some relief to the families.