Jim Hagerty: What it was like covering the 1977 murder of Louise Betts

ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO) – Digital Reporter Jim Hagerty shares what it was like as a young reporter nearly 20 years ago to learn about the 1977 murder of 16-year-old Louise Betts and follow her killer’s numerous attempts at parole.

This segment includes a conversation with former newspaper editor who was on the ground covering the Betts case in the 1970s, a crime that continues to have a tremendous impact on the community nearly 50 years later.

Just shy of her 17th birthday, Louise Betts was abducted and killed on Sept. 27, 1977, while hitchhiking in Loves Park. Her killer, 23-year-old Curtis Brunell, was initially sentenced to death but is now serving 100 to 300 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections.

There’s more on the Louise Betts case here.