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| Has anybody heard how the Murder Trial of JohnMD's niece is going?
Bob Hammerhill | |
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| Prosecution details evidence in death of student from Rolling Meadows
By Erin Holmes Daily Herald Staff Writer
Posted on February 05, 2003
CHARLESTON, Ill. - A deceased crime scene investigator speaking on videotape Tuesday said Shannon McNamara's killer likely got into her apartment early June 12, 2001 through a window.
Jurors on the second day of the capital murder trial of Anthony B. Mertz watched Richard Caudell explain that the killer got into the Eastern Illinois University student's apartment by slicing a screen and opening a window.
Caudell was a state police crime scene investigator but died of cancer in August.
McNamara's roommate at the time, Carissa Brooks, said Monday she had deadbolted the only door to the apartment. McNamara, 21, of Rolling Meadows, was beaten, sexually assaulted and strangled.
Caudell said there was no sign of forced entry to the door.
Caudell's testimony did not help the prosecution's quest to present a witness who would testify that Mertz - whose name is on a credit card found on the floor at the murder scene - knew how to use the card for break-ins.
Circuit Court Judge Dale Cini sent the jury out of the room while that witness, Mertz's former neighbor Kimberly Lille, took the stand, after defense attorneys said there is "not one iota of evidence" that the killer used the card for entry.
Lille instead told her story to those remaining in the courtroom, saying Mertz once broke into her apartment while she was out, only days before McNamara's murder - he told her afterward he was concerned for her well-being, she said - and saying he also helped her use a card to get into her own apartment when she lost her keys.
During cross-examination, defense attorney Paula Phillips got Lille to say she had heard of other students using credit cards to access locked apartments.
Prosecutors say they'll likely try to call Lille to the stand again, in the presence of jurors. They also plan to call four people with similar testimonies to the stand today.
Later in the afternoon, Lille took the stand in front of the jury to testify about another run-in with Mertz - this one the night of McNamara's murder.
Lille said she confronted Mertz at about 4:30 a.m. and yelled at him to turn down his loud music.
When she turned to leave, "He came after me," she said. "He tried to grab my arm. I shoved him with my other arm and shut the door."
She said she remembered him mumbling something about "Who's in there with you?" as she shut the door.
Lille's testimony closed a long day in an upstairs room of the Coles County Courthouse, which hasn't seen a capital murder case in two decades.
The majority of the day was taken up by Caudell's videotaped deposition, which had been taped in the presence of defense attorneys, Mertz and prosecutors.
On the tape, Caudell identified several pieces of evidence - including photographs, the T-shirt and bra found pulled up over McNamara's face and a ripped section of latex glove found between her body and a footstool.
Eleven other latex gloves were found in a trash bin near where a bloodied knife was discovered after the murder, he testified, and two others were found inside a purple Crown Royal liquor bag inside Mertz's apartment the day after the incident.
McNamara's parents, Bob and Cindy, were in the courtroom for most of the day's testimony, but Cindy left twice, tears streaming down her face, as Caudell described details of the cuts, bruises and gashes inflicted on McNamara's body.
Her death primarily has been attributed to a washrag stuffed down her throat, but witnesses have testified that manual strangulation and other wounds played roles.
Mertz has been charged with home invasion, first-degree murder and sexual assault.
Caudell said it's obvious to him the struggle began in McNamara's bedroom, continued into the hallway and into the bathroom, where she died. From there, he said, it's likely she was dragged or carried to the living room, where her roommate discovered her.
"It's pretty obvious that (she) was put there for display," he said.
The trial continues at 9 a.m. today. Prosecutors say they plan to wrap up their witness testimony by Friday or Monday. Phillips said she also plans to call witnesses, however, because the defense plans to establish an alibi.
The trial, including the sentencing phase if Mertz is found guilty, could last as long as a month.
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Murder Trial?