Oct. 16--A McHenry County jury has cleared a man who was accused of setting a woman on fire after she refused his sexual advances.
Jurors deliberated for about four hours Thursday before returning the not-guilty verdict against Anthony Cohn, 34, who had been accused of tossing lighter fluid on the woman's back and then setting it on fire. Cohn and the woman had been staying in separate tents last year in an area in Woodstock where homeless people congregate.
As the verdict was read, the woman burst into tears and left the courtroom.
"Did they not see the burn on my back?" she said later.
Before the end of his trial Thursday, prosecutors dropped an attempted murder charge against Cohn, but he still faced a charge of aggravated battery with great bodily harm.
Assistant State's Attorney Randi Freese had called the act "disturbing" and "horrific" and said Cohn was "hellbent on making her suffer."
Cohn's attorney, John Gaffney, called the case "a tragic circumstance for everybody" and acknowledged the woman was seriously injured. But he said the physical evidence didn't match the woman's testimony of what happened.
"We may never know what really happened," Gaffney said.
Two people who initially told police they saw Cohn set the woman on fire backtracked on the witness stand.
Gaffney said Cohn will now return home with his mother and sister.
"If anything good came of this, he is no longer estranged from his family," Gaffney said. "He can go back and hopefully he can move on with his life."
Amanda Marrazzo is a freelance reporter.
