A former Guantánamo Bay detainee told a Cook County judge Monday that a former Chicago police detective brutally tortured him at the naval prison, testimony that could upend the long-running review of one of the city’s most notorious child murder cases. Appearing virtually, Mohamedou Ould Slahi said ex-CPD Detective Richard Zuley orchestrated days of sleep deprivation, threats, and physical abuse that left him near death. His account is now part of Judge Adrienne Davis’s decision on whether to overturn Anthony Garrett’s 1994 conviction in the sniper killing of 7-year-old Dantrell Davis.
What Slahi Told The Court
Slahi testified that his treatment at Guantánamo shifted sharply when Zuley, whom he knew only as "Captain Collins," took charge of his interrogation. Under Zuley’s watch, he said, guards imposed prolonged sleep deprivation and sensory isolation. Slahi told the court that interrogators had blindfolded and beaten him, used sexual assaults and threats against his family, and kept escalating until he falsely confessed to attacks he insists he never committed. He recounted one line attributed to Zuley, "I don’t give a f--- about fairness or justice, I care about saving lives," a statement and testimony detailed in court and reported by WTTW News.
From Chicago Precincts To Guantánamo
Reporters and investigators have long traced a line between what happened inside Chicago interrogation rooms and what later unfolded at Guantánamo. In particular, they have focused on Zuley. A The Guardian investigation identified "Captain Collins" as Zuley and laid out allegations that closely track Slahi’s account, including the use of stress positions, threats aimed at relatives, and confessions that defendants say were forced. Those findings are now central to the defense effort to show that Zuley relied on the same coercive playbook both in Chicago and at Guantánamo.
How The Testimony Fits Garrett's Appeal
Judge Davis allowed Slahi to testify via video as part of an evidentiary hearing on whether Garrett, convicted in 1994 of killing Dantrell Davis, should receive a new trial. In 2023, the Illinois Torture Inquiry and Relief Commission concluded that there was "sufficient, credible evidence" that Zuley coerced Garrett’s confession and sent the case to the courts for review. Garrett’s attorneys say Slahi’s story backs up the commission’s findings by showing a wider pattern. Prosecutors, for their part, argue that whatever happened at Guantánamo took place years after Garrett’s 1992 interrogation and say it sheds little light on what occurred in that Chicago police station, as WBEZ reported.
Evidence Gaps And Defense Strategy
Defense lawyers have spent much of the hearing highlighting soft spots in the original case against Garrett. The rifle used to kill Dantrell was never recovered, tests for gunpowder residue on Garrett’s clothing came back negative, and no eyewitness put him at the shooting scene, according to court records. Garrett and his legal team say he confessed only after being beaten multiple times with rubber hoses and a phone book, denied access to a bathroom, and prevented from lying down. They argue those allegations mirror other complaints lodged against Zuley and, alongside the torture commission’s findings, helped trigger the current court review, as reported by the Chicago Sun-Times.
What’s At Stake
The hearing is set to continue through Tuesday, when Zuley is expected to take the stand in person, and is scheduled to run into December. That means the court is poised to hear not just Slahi’s first-hand account but also direct testimony from the former detective at the center of it all. Zuley has denied forcing Garrett’s confession. Records show he left the CPD in 2007, then went on to work in Cook County public health emergency management and at the Chicago Department of Aviation, and that he receives a taxpayer-funded police pension of about $94,580 a year, totaling more than $1.3 million since retirement, according to WTTW News. Whatever Judge Davis ultimately rules, the case now sits at the uncomfortable crossroads where wartime interrogation tactics and decades-old Chicago police practices meet in a single courtroom.
