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Walsh had held out hope that Toole, suffering from cirrhosis and facing five life sentences for other crimes, would make a deathbed confession. He may have. Walsh has since learned from an ex-prison official that Toole had spoken of Adam's murder to a nurse before he died in September 1996. But confidentiality rules prevent the nurse from confirming the allegation. Toole's niece told a detective her uncle confided that he had killed Adam, and felt bad about it. That is little consolation for John Walsh. Hearsay is not closure.
--By Tammerlin Drummond