DOWALIBY CLEARED, BUT NOT HOME FREE

Wednesday`s decision to overturn the conviction of David Dowaliby in the slaying of his 7-year-old daughter marked another dramatic turn in one of the most bizarre murder sagas in recent Chicago-area history.Something terrible happened in the Dowalibys` raised ranch home on 148th Place in Midlothian, but the ruling by the Illinois Appellate Court does nothing to resolve that mystery.And the question remains: Who killed Jaclyn Dowaliby?Public opinion had been sharply divided on this controversial case since the severely decomposed body of the once pretty, long-haired girl was found in a weedy Blue Island field in September 1988.Either Dowaliby and his wife, Cynthia, were the victims of a Kafkaesque nightmare or they murdered their child.One juror who played a pivotal role in Dowaliby`s conviction said Wednesday she feared the Appellate Court had committed a travesty.”I just have a terrible feeling for the remaining two children,” said Phyllis Halvorsen, forewoman of the jury that convic...