BLOOMINGTON - Alan Beaman will never forget the day he got the news at Dixon Correctional Center that the Illinois Supreme Court reversed his conviction for the 1993 murder of his former girlfriend.

Beaman, now 35, called his attorneys, Karen Daniel and Jeffrey Urdangen, in May from the administrative building at the prison, where he was serving a 50-year sentence.

"They said 'We won.' It was a beautiful, sunshiny day," Beaman said in an interview Wednesday.

Beaman is back at home with his parents, Carol and Barry Beaman, in Rockford after posting $25,000 bond last week.

McLean County State's Attorney Bill Yoder said his office intends to move forward with a new trial of Beaman on first-degree murder charges. The then-Illinois Wesleyan University student is accused of brutally murdering Illinois State University student Jennifer Lockmiller, 22, in her apartment in Normal. Lockmiller was from Decatur.

Adjusting to life outside

After 13 years behind bars, Beaman has been forced to adjust to many changes in the outside world, most of them dealing with technology. Cell phones and the Internet were not part of Beaman's life when he entered prison.

"I don't have an e-mail address. And then there's driving. I've picked that back up," Beaman said.

In the past few days, Beaman has secured a learner's permit that requires him to drive with other adults.

"I'm 35 years old and driving with my parents," he said.

Sitting with his attorneys and parents, Beaman seemed at ease talking about the nonstop visits from friends and the barrage of media attention. The man considered overly assured by some during his first trial now shops for clothing at Goodwill stores and enjoys doing simple household chores.

"I've learned to live with very little," Beaman said.

Surviving prison

Settling into a cell in Stateville Correctional Center in Joliet proved difficult at first for the college theater major.

"I had to learn to trust that there was a plan for me in all this. I made the decision to fight this from the very beginning," Beaman said.

A turning point that helped put Beaman on track to deal with prison life came while he was waiting to visit his parents.

"I was invited to a Bible study. I started to get it. It was a blessing," he said of the activity that became a regular part of his life in prison.

After he was transferred to Dixon Correctional Center, Beaman took some computer classes and began working with the prison's hospice program.

"Illinois has a lot of dying old men in prison," he said.

Visits from Beaman's parents - they came 470 times over 13 years - and the knowledge that lawyers were working on appeals kept Beaman hopeful that exoneration or a new trial was possible.

Carol Beaman never gave up hope that her son would return home.

"We knew the truth, that he was innocent, and we leaned on each other," Beaman's mother said.

Legal support

When a second trial gets under way on the pending murder charges against Beaman, lawyers from several firms will assist with his defense.

Beaman's defense team includes Daniel and Urdangen from the Center on Wrongful Convictions at Northwestern University School of Law in Chicago and additional attorneys from law firms in Chicago and Washington, D.C.

Urdangen brought Beaman's case to the attention of the law school known for its activist approach to researching potentially wrongful convictions. Daniel's law class viewed Urdangen's presentation of Beaman's case.

"When he got to the end, I asked, where's the evidence that Alan Beaman did it? And there was none. Those are the cases we get involved in," Daniel said.

Yoder's decision to retry the case is a disappointment, Urdangen said.

"We believe that any review of the history of the case and evidence would lead a prosecutor in a decision-making capacity to accept that the evidence they have is not sufficient to prove him guilty. We strongly believe Alan will be vindicated," the defense attorney said.

Edith Brady-Lunny can be reached at eblunny@pantagraph.com.