Stephen Burrell Small (18 March 1947 – 2 September 1987) was a prominent American businessman in Kankakee, Illinois.
As a result, Edwards was given the death penalty (later commuted) and Rish was sentenced to life in prison without parole.
Stephen Small had received his education at Lake Forest Academy, the University of Denver and Mark Hopkins College.
The matter was reported to the authorities, however, and devices were connected to the Smalls' telephone line to record incoming calls and to determine their origins.
Minutes later, at 11:50 p.m., an Illinois State Police officer saw Rish's car, with its trunk partly open, driving from Kankakee toward Aroma Park.
They saw a dark-colored Buick, with its trunk partly open, arrive at the house in Bourbonnais where Edwards and Rish lived.
It contained a light connected to an automotive battery, a one gallon jug of water, candy bars, gum, and a flashlight.
The medical examiner noted that the pipe extending from the box into the open air was too long for its diameter to serve as an adequate air-exchange system.
Also, two neighbors of the Small family saw Edwards' van, or one similar to it, parked in their neighborhood after midnight on September 2.
The search of Edwards's residence at the time of his arrest turned up a Kankakee telephone book with the name "Small" circled.
Another person who owed Edwards money had had a gun stolen, and it was found by investigators in the countryside near Aroma Park.
At the close of evidence, the jury found Edwards guilty of first degree murder and aggravated kidnapping.
At the first stage of the hearing, the jury found Edwards eligible for the death penalty because of his commission of murder during the course of another felony, aggravated kidnapping.
Small, the investigation focused on Danny Edwards and Nancy Rish, who lived together in a townhouse in Bourbonnais.
It appeared that Small had been placed in a wooden box which had been fitted with a PVC pipe designed to give him air for 24 to 48 hours.
Rish requested a specific attorney, J. Scott Swaim, who had previously represented her, and she was given an opportunity to obtain his counsel.
On October 1, Rish was charged by indictment with first-degree murder and aggravated kidnapping for her alleged role in Small's death.
Witnesses were also presented who testified that they had seen her at various times with Edwards when he was purchasing some of items that were ultimately found with Small's body.
Lastly, the State submitted evidence that Edwards had used their garage to build the box in which Small's body was found.
This act commuted the sentence of Danny Edwards who had murdered Ryan's next-door neighbor Stephen Small.
I share this story with you so that you know I do not come to this as a neophyte without having experienced a small bit of the bitter pill the survivors of murder must swallow.