BLOOMINGTON - The fate of Rockford man convicted of the 1993 murder of an Illinois State University student is expected to become clearer Thursday.

That's the deadline for McLean County prosecutors to decide whether to appeal an Illinois Supreme Court ruling in May that tossed Alan Beaman's 1995 conviction in the murder of Jennifer Lockmiller, a 22-year-old student from Decatur.

Alan Beaman

The high court ruled evidence used by prosecutors to send Beaman to prison for 50 years was weak and violated the former Illinois Wesleyan University student's right to due process of law.

Lockmiller was found dead in her apartment on North Main Street in Normal. She had been stabbed with scissors and strangled with the cord of a clock radio.

Beaman and Lockmiller had previously dated.

McLean County State's Attorney Bill Yoder said Tuesday he is reviewing the case and will make a decision by Thursday. He has the option of appealing the ruling to the state court, appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court, embarking on a new trial or, in short, letting the case lapse.

"This week is a deadline for them to decide whether they're going to seek any further review of the decision," said Beaman's attorney, Karen Daniel, of the Center on Wrongful Convictions at Northwestern University in Chicago.

In any event, Beaman won't get a chance to walk out of the state prison in Dixon until later this month.

Court deadlines preclude the filing of paperwork aimed at freeing Beaman on bond until June 26, Daniel said.

Beaman's mother, Carol Beaman of Rockford, said her son has been thinking about things he needs to do in preparation of his release from prison.

"I know he's picked up a copy of 'Rules of the Road,'" Carol Beaman said Tuesday.