Friday, March 22, 2013
Charles McCullum, 21, allegedly dumped his mother in the Des Plaines River after hammering a knife into her with a baseball bat.
JOLIET, IL -- Before he dumped his mother's body into the Des Plaines River, Charles McCullum choked her, stabbed her so hard with one knife the blade bent, plunged a second knife into her repeatedly, and then used a baseball bat to hammer it into her her body until the handle broke, a prosecutor said during a Friday afternoon hearing. McCullum, 21, appeared at the hearing via a closed-circuit broadcast from the Will County jail. His father, Charles McCullum Sr., stood up and stepped forward when his son came on the screen. Another man in the gallery was ejected from the courtroom and ordered out of the courthouse after shouting an obscenity when McCullum's hearing started. About a half dozen other spectators followed the man from the …
The judge for a man charged with clubbing his wife's head with a hammer just before she died is reviewing material provided by attorneys.
A Romeoville man charged with bashing his wife's head in with a claw hammer just before she died of natural causes is waiting on a judge to review material provided by his attorney and prosecutors. After Judge Amy Bertani-Tomczak peruses the paperwork tendered during a Friday morning court hearing, she and the attorneys will hold a closed-door meeting to see if a plea deal is possible for John Sadler, 69. Sadler, a retired accountant, was jailed on a murder charge after Romeoville police found the 10-day-old corpse of his wife, Carol Sadler, 66, in their Benzie Circle home in July 2010. But three months later, prosecutors dropped the charges from murder to aggravated domestic battery and aggravated battery of a senior citizen. Sadler's …
A woman suing Chicagoland Speedway says a flagpole fell on her.
A woman claiming a falling flagpole broke her back is suing Chicagoland Speedway. Elfega Duensing's lawsuit against the racecar track was filed at the Will County Courthouse this week. Duensing was walking through a Chicagoland Speedway parking lot in June when a flagpole fell and hit her in the back, according to her lawsuit. The flagpole was "affixed to a concrete container filed with sand," the suit said. The impact of the flagpole caused "injuries including thoracic spine fractures," the suit said. Chicagoland Speedway is to blame for Duensing's broken back because the flags lacked the "necessary wind slits," the containers of sand weren't heavy enough to support the flagpoles and they were unsecured, the lawsuit said. Get all the …
Friday, March 15, 2013
A young man allegedly attacked by a Will County Board member's son has filed a lawsuit claiming he was the victim of a hate crime.
A Joliet man allegedly whipped at the hands of a belt-wielding Will County Board member's son has filed a lawsuit claiming he was the victim of a hate crime. The suit names Alex Wilhelmi, the 21-year-old son of board member Steve Wilhelmi, D-Joliet, along with two of Alex Wilhelmi's friends—Manuel Borrego, 24, and Daniel Duffy, 23. Joliet resident Trey Travis, 20, filed the lawsuit this week at the Will County Courthouse. According to the suit, Travis was riding in a Saturn Vue with two other men on July 1 when Borrego turned his Pontiac Grand Prix into the path of their vehicle. Duffy and Wilhelmi were riding with Borrego, the suit said. Words were exchanged and Travis got out of the Saturn, the suit said. Alex Wilhelmi, Borrego and Duffy…
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
If you've got wit, add your caption to Patch's weekly comic challenge and win a personalized print.
Are you blessed with insight and good humor? Or just bored today? Share your wit with your neighbors by entering Patch's comic caption challenge. Just add your dialogue for today's comic in the comment section of this post. Our only requirement is that you keep it clean! At week's end, we'll pick the winning punchline based on how many of us here at Patch giggle and smile at your contribution. The user who produces the winning punchline will get a personalized proof of the comic, with the winning words and a credit line, from cartoonist Chuck Ingwersen and Patch. Congratulations to Suzanne Matthies, who provided the winning punchline to last week's Poker Dog cartoon: You may have a great poker-face, but your tail says it all.
Friday, March 8, 2013
The jury took two days before returning a guilty verdict in the case of Ricardo Gutierrez.
A Chicago man charged with a 2007 Plainfield murder went to bed Thursday night with his fate in the hands of the jury. On Friday afternoon, that jury found him guilty of first-degree murder. The jury returned about 2 p.m. and convicted Ricardo Gutierrez, 23, of first-degree murder. Gutierrez gunned down Javier Barrios in October 2007. Barrios was 18 when he was killed. Barrios, a Romeoville resident, was first shot by his ex-girlfriend, 24-year-old Gabriela Escutia, police said. Escutia allegedly set up a rendezvous with Barrios in a field on Route 59 near a Meijer service station. Gutierrez reportedly joined her for the meeting. Guttierez's attorneys, Jeff Tomczak and Paul Napolski, said their client shot Barrios in self-defense, and that…
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
The judge will decide next month if Joseph Messina, who was convicted of throwing the punch that put Eric Bartels of Joliet into a coma, will be tried again.
Lawyers for the New Lenox man convicted in January of punching a Joliet man into a coma outside a Mokena bar argued Wednesday that he should either be acquitted or get a new trial. Attorney Dave Carlson said there wasn't enough evidence for Joseph Messina, 24, to be found guilty of beating Eric Bartels outside the Mokena bar 191 South in July 2009. The attack left Bartels, 29, in a coma. Carlson pointed out that three key prosecution witnesses swore Messina was wearing shorts the night of the attack when he was actually wearing long pants. Carlson also claimed it was one of Messina's friends, Michael Glielmi, formerly of Manhattan, who punched Bartels, but that he was denied the opportunity to question Glielmi. Glielmi invoked his …
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Judge Edward Burmila said he was "shocked" by lawyer Joel Brodsky's conduct, and now Brodsky's license to practice law could be in jeopardy before the state's Attorney Registration & Disciplinary Commission.
The judge in the Drew Peterson murder case said he was "shocked" by the behavior of attorney Joel Brodsky in the aftermath of the convicted wife-killer's sentencing last month. "I've never seen an attorney comport himself the way Mr. Brodsky did," Judge Edward Burmila said during a Tuesday morning hearing at the Will County Courthouse. And Brodsky's law license may be in jeopardy now that Judge Burmila is alerting the state's Attorney Registration & Disciplinary Commission to Brodsky's antics. After Peterson was hit with a 38-year prison sentence for murdering his third wife, Kathleen Savio, his former attorney, Joel Brodsky, did a WGN Morning News interview and blamed Peterson for moves he made at the trial. Judge Burmila first said he …
The triggerman in a June 2009 killing was sentenced to 14 years, but with good time and time served will likely be out in less than four years.
A Joliet man took a 14 year prison sentence for a 2009 killing but will likely be free in less than four years. Marcos Camargo, 30, had pleaded guilty in January to a charge of second-degree murder in exchange for the sentence. While Judge Edward Burmila gave Camargo 14 years behind bars, with credit for the more than three years and three months he has already spent in the county jail and for day-for-day good time, Camargo could be paroled by November 2016. Camargo was indicted on charges of first degree murder, aggravated battery with a firearm and aggravated discharge of a firearm in connection with a June 2009 killing in the St. Patrick neighborhood. Just prior to the fatal shooting, 17-year-old Alfredo Aguirre and "several individuals…
Friday, March 1, 2013
Judge Gerald Kinney also wants prosecutors and attorneys representing the four murder defendants to investigate the supposed leak.
The judge presiding over the Hickory Street double murder case put a gag order on all the attorneys involved and instructed them to investigate an alleged leak of police reports that led to a series of stories published by Patch. "I don't think it's inappropriate to start the process of saying, 'Where did this come from?'" Judge Gerald Kinney said during a brief hearing Friday morning at the Will County Courthouse. "I do think we need steps to get to the bottom of it," Kinney said. "I don't know who did it but I think we need to make a good faith effort to find out, and where it goes it goes." Joliet lawyer Chuck Bretz, who represents one of the four charged with last month's murder of Terrance Rankins and Eric Glover, both 22, asked …
GlockG22Shoots40s
9:06 am on Monday, March 25, 2013
Jim, you are the moron here. I've never heard of a white or hispanic family getting divorced or having children out of wedlock.... putz. more ›