Identical Twin Confesses to Murder That Sent His Brother to Prison for 54 Years

Identical Twin Confesses to Murder That Sent His Brother to Prison for 54 Years Chicago prosecutors, however, have reportedly challenged the surprising confession as clashing with other

evidence

By Adam Carlson Adam Carlson Adam Carlson is the senior editor for human interest at PEOPLE, which he first joined in 2015. His work has also appeared on ABC News and CNN and in The New York

Times, Time magazine and elsewhere.People Editorial GuidelinesPublished on September 27, 2016 02:40PM EDT Credit : Illinois Department of Corrections A Chicago man confessed last week to

being responsible for a 2003 murder his identical twin brother was convicted of more than a decade ago, PEOPLE confirms.

What’s more, Karl Smith actually sat in on the trial of his twin, Kevin Dugar, all the while knowing that he was the one responsible, he alleged during a court hearing on Thursday, the

Chicago Tribune reports.

“I didn’t have the strength to come forward,” Smith said, according to the Tribune. “I thought it was the job of the police to catch me.”

But prosecutors quickly cast doubt on his testimony, the paper reports, citing “independent eyewitness accounts.” Given his own 99-year prison sentence in a separate incident, that will

likely keep him behind bars until at least 2086, Smith’s new confession doesn’t affect his incarceration, prosecutors say.

Dugar was convicted in 2005 for the first-degree murder of Antwan Carter, who was killed in a March 2003 gang shooting, according to the Tribune. He was sentenced to 54 years in prison,

according to the Illinois Department of Corrections.

Smith, who reportedly took his mother’s maiden name, testified Thursday at Dugar’s post-conviction hearing. There Dugar’s defense presented evidence of his innocence in order to argue for a

new trial, according to court officials.

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Smith – himself convicted of attempted murder in a home invasion – testified that authorities got the wrong brother, court officials say. He said he and Dugar had a long history of

impersonating each other and even shared clothes as kids, down to their socks, according to the Tribune

They also used the same street name, according to the paper: “Twin.”

“We [were] acting as one,” Smith reportedly said. “Where I was, he was, acting like each other. He pretended to be me, and I pretended to be him.”

While Dugar was identified in a photo lineup by a surviving victim of the 2003 shooting, the array did not include Smith’s photo, according to the Tribune.

“I’m here to confess to a crime I committed that he [Dugar] was wrongly accused of,” Smith said at Thursday’s hearing, almost as soon as he took the stand, according to the Tribune.

But Cook County Assistant State’s Attorney Carol Rogala said Smith has “nothing to lose” now by making such a confession, after an appeals court upheld his own conviction and 99-year prison

sentence, according to the Tribune.

Dugar’s attorney, Karen Daniel, pointed to what she called exceedingly thin evidence in the case against her client: no physical evidence and two eyewitnesses, one of whom recanted at trial,

she told the paper.

Daniel said Smith’s confession could not have been discovered by Dugar’s trial attorney, the Tribune reports, and Smith said he only admitted to his alleged involvement in 2013, when he

wrote Dugar a letter. A year later, Smith signed a sworn statement confessing.

In a statement to PEOPLE, Daniel said, “Kevin Dugar has maintained his innocence since 2003. His conviction was based solely on eyewitness identification testimony. We strongly maintain that

the recent confession of guilt by his identical twin brother, for whom Mr. Dugar easily could have been mistaken, is clear grounds for a new trial.”

The Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office declined comment to PEOPLE about the ongoing case. Daniel estimated it could be several months before there is a ruling on Dugar’s possible new

trial.

As Smith made his claims in court Thursday, his mother, who could not be reached by PEOPLE and who has not seen either son in years, sat weeping a few feet away, according to the Tribune.

Dugar also teared up, according to the New York Post.

The mother, Judy Dugar, reportedly said of Smith’s confession, “He wouldn’t lie about that.”

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