Results tagged “deathpenalty”

After 10 hours of deliberation - and one false alarm - a jury has sentenced Brian Dugan to death for the 1983 murder of Jeanine Nicarico. [Tribune]

"No longer is the boogeyman a fairy tale," said Thomas Nicarico to the jury gathered at the DuPage County courtroom on Friday.

A pair of jurors held out and, after five hours of deliberation, the jury deciding James Degorski's fate came back with a sentence of life in prison. Degorski, convicted a few weeks ago for his role in the 1993 Brown's Chicken murders, could have faced the death penalty, which the prosecution was pushing for. In fact, according to the Sun-Times, 10 of the 12 jurors ultimately favored it but the two who voted against held firm, leading to the life sentence. Jury forewoman Cynthia Rathburn said deliberations were "a little heated and frustrating" and concluded, "It was like that until we realized we were not going to reach a unanimous decision...We reached a point where we agreed we were not going to agree."

The jury charged with deciding James Degorski's sentence have begun deliberations as to whether or not to sentence him to death. Three weeks ago, the jury found Degorski guilty for his role in the 1993 Brown's Chicken Murders. Cook County Assistant State's Attorney Tom Biesty said of Degorski, "He slaughtered them that night. He wanted to do something big and he wanted to be famous. Well, he did do something big and he is famous...and now it's his judgment day." Degorski's attorney, senior Cook County assistant public defender Mark Levitt cited abuse, both sexual and physical, that Degorski and his siblings suffered by their father and told the jury, "Finding mercy where it shouldn't exist is exactly what mercy is." Juan Luna, the other man convicted in the slayings, was sentenced to life in prison in 2007.

A DuPage County jury took little time today to decide that Brian Dugan, convicted for kidnapping, raping and murdering 10-year-old Jeanine Nicarico, qualifies for the death penalty.

James Degorski, who was found guilty yesterday on seven counts of murder for his part in the 1993 Brown Chicken's killings, has been ruled eligible for the death penalty by the same jury that convicted him. The next phase begins tomorrow; prosecutors will try to persuade the jury to sentence Degorski to the death penalty while the defense will argue for life in prison. [Sun-Times]

Prosecutors have rejected a plea deal in the case of Kaushik Patel, the man accused of killing his two young sons be dousing them in flammable liquid and setting them on fire last November. The deal would have sent Patel to prison for life but prosecutors are sticking to their guns and seeking the death penalty for Patel. Patel had originally planned to plead guilty in exchange for the life sentence, but prosecutors are moving forward with the trial, which begins in April 2009. Patel claimed that when he set his sons, 4-year-old Om and 7-year-old Vishv, on fire, he was actually trying to kill himself. Om died two months after the burning, in January of this year, and Vishv died a month after him.

County prosecutors today announced their intent to seek the death penalty against Reginald Potts, the man accused of killing Nailah Franklin. [S-T]

Eric Hanson has been sentenced to death for killing his sister, parents and brother-in-law. His surviving sister testified against him during his recently concluded trial, and yesterday a jury took only 90 minutes to return its verdict in favor of execution.

Perhaps crime will slow down tomorrow, when all that water lying around freezes and turns Chicago streets into one giant ice rink. But for now, let's see what's been going on this weekend in the world of criminal justice:

Timothy Krajcir, a currently incarcerated repeat violent sex offender, pleaded guilty yesterday to killing Deborah Sheppard, an SIU student who was murdered in 1982. And then he confessed to eight other murders in Missouri and another area police haven't disclosed yet (possibly Kentucky). So far, he's been charged with five counts of murder and three counts of rape, and was sentenced to 40 years in prison for Sheppard's murder. Krajcir is 63. Krajcir's rap sheet...

The Sun-Times asks what we hope is a rhetorical question on the cover of today's edition; "How do you punish somebody for being so senseless?" The question was actually asked by Paul Dahlquist, father of one of three musicians brutally murdered* by Jeanette Sliwinski almost 2 1/2 years ago. She attempted to kill herself by slamming her car into a vehicle carrying Michael Dahlquist, John Glick, and Doug Meis while the three were out on a lunch break.

An air of unfairness permeates everything about the George Ryan trial. His fall from grace, you may remember, began with the License-for-Bribe Scandal, a scandal that involved the deaths of nearly an entire family caused by a truck driver who had effectively bought his commercial drivers license. Of the many themes that have been present in the George Ryan corruption trial, a recurring one has been forgiveness. Besides his connection to corruption in state politics,...

After months upon months of pounding the pavement and posting in cyberspace, the Cornbleet family allegedly has their man. Dermatologist Dr. David Cornbleet was murdered last October in his Michigan Avenue office. Since then, his son Jon has worked seemingly ‘round the clock to track down his father’s killer. Taking a tip from an unspecified source, officials arrested Hans Peterson, 29, Aug. 6 on the French island of St. Martin. For the time being, Peterson...

The news broke late yesterday of an arrest in the case of Dr. David Cornbleet, the dermatologist who was murdered in his Loop office last October. Authorities filed a warrant for 29-year-old Hans R. Peterson, who was arrested August 6 on a federal fugitive warrant for unlawful flight on the French Caribbean island of St. Martin. After his arrest in St. Martin, Peterson, who lists his occupation as an "Internet gambler," allegedly confessed to the...

It really is tempting to succumb to the illusion of control when it comes to crime in this country. Those of us outside of the millions upon millions of square footage devoted to prisons can debate about the death penalty, or watch a movie or TV show about rehabilitation without ever having to face the prison industrial complex that has quietly grown out of control, and has never evolved to suit the needs of the people it supposedly exists for to help, or change.

Sign outside of the Patio Motel by abbyworld.

For the 75th anniversary of the Lindbergh kidnapping, Time released what they believe are the top 25 crimes of the century. We must say, we got sucked in and were captivated by the crimes, some of which we were familiar with and some we were completely unawares. Two of the crimes were from the Chicago area. John Wayne Gacy, executed by lethal injection in 1994, murdered 32 boys and young men. Police found 28 of them in a crawl space in his Des Plaines home. The mysteries of the human psyche, the false sense of security in suburbia, the facade of an upstanding citizen — these were all brought to the forefront in an American society that was getting comfortable.

Happy President's Day weekend! Take a load off and enjoy our usual madness: Three women were murdered in West Rogers Park following a domestic dispute. Karmin and Karolin Khooshabeh, stepsisters, were found bludgeoned to death with a hammer Saturday morning at 6459 N. Washtenaw. Karolin's 60-year-old mother also fell to the killer when she opened the door of her apartment at 2635 W. Arthur. The suspect in custody is Karmin's 56-year-old husband, who was found...

George Ryan. The name brings up a laundry list of titles. Former governor. Inspiration for our current governor. Keeper of the flame for Illinois politics in general. And, equaling the infamy of his corrupted reign, death penalty opponent. On Friday, Ryan appeared at DePaul University to make a speech concerning the ultimate capital punishment. It was one of his first public appearances since being sentenced for racketeering and fraud charges in September. He spent 45...

In some respects, the sentencing of former Illinois governor George Ryan could be described as a series of half-steps. Neither U.S. District Judge Pallmeyer nor Ryan took full responsibility yesterday. Ryan was sentenced to 6 ½ years in prison, which was 3 ½ years short of the ten sought by prosecutors. We’re at a loss here since we always thought the ringleader of a crime spree should get a harsher sentence than his accomplice. In...

When it was announced that George Ryan was found guilty on all counts on Monday, we were definitely surprised. We thought the jury would find him guilty on some of the lesser charges and basically let him off with a slap on the wrist, resulting in a big FU to taxpayers who footed the bill for the trial, as well as to federal investigators who spent eight years pursuing Ryan and codefendant Larry Warner.

Yesterday brought us news that Moussaoui is eligible for the death penalty, but today in a short blurb in the Tribune we learn that Jeanette Sliwinski will not face the death penalty for her alleged suicide attempt where she crashed her car at 70 mph into a stopped car in Skokie killing three local musicians, Michael Dahlquist, John Glick and Douglas Meis, who were on their lunch break.

Late last week a juror in the George Ryan corruption trial was dismissed “for personal reasons that were in no way related to the merits of the case.” Over the weekend rumors swirled that there was a big personality conflict between the dismissed juror and the rest of the jury, but Judge Rebecca R. Pallmeyer today said personality conflict had nothing to do with it. So now we can all sit around and wonder what the “personal reasons” were.

Yesterday the George Ryan defense team announced it would wind up its part in his corruption trial without testimony from Ryan or his co-defendant, Larry Warner. Chicagoist is very sad. We really wanted to hear Ryan talk about his “manageable wads.”

While many say Intonation Fest was a victory for the local music scene, it can't quite make up for the loss suffered last week with the murder of three local musicians. Michael Dahlquist from Silkworm, John Glick from The Returnables and Doug Meis from The Dials and Exo were killed in a car accident on Thursday afternoon. Police say Jeanette Sliwinski tried to kill herself by intentionally crashing her car into the vehicle occupied by the three men. Prosecutors say she may face the death penalty. A statement released by her lawyer on Saturday said she was sorry and asked for forgiveness. Well, fuck you Jeanette.

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The guy who police suspect in the shooting death of an unarmed Capitol security guard was arrested yesterday as he was knocking on doors asking people for a ride to the police station. Pretty much he surrendered.

A Chicago-area man on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted list was captured in Mexico last Thursday after a Mexican viewer saw him on the TV show America's Most Wanted (AMW). Michael Alfonso allegedly stalked and killed not one, but two of his former girlfriends. The viewer called in to AMW who then contacted the U.S. Embassy. Alfonso was captured and given to US authorities who flew him to Houston. He is staying there until he can be sent back to Illinois.