Saturday, May 18, 2013
A lawsuit against an imprisoned preacher from Crete and an Indiana megachurch topped the week's court news.
A former megachurch preacher sentenced to 12 years in federal prison in March for carrying on a sexual relationship with a teenage member of his congregation was sued in Will County court. In addition to preacher Jack Schaap, 55, of Crete, the First Baptist Church of Hammond was named as a defendant in the lawsuit. The parents of a teenage girl Schaap had sex with while he was pastor of the First Baptist Church of Hammond filed the lawsuit. The suit identifies the parents as "John Doe and Mary Doe," and the teen as "Jane Doe." The suit gives Jane Doe's date of birth as June 27, 1995. Here's what else was going on at the area's courthouses: Check out all these stories and more on our Facebook page.
Saturday, May 4, 2013
A Caribbean music record company owner has a drug dog's lack of punctuality to thank for getting him out of a felony pot charge, but he still couldn't get his marijuana back.
Martin Scott was looking at a possible 30-year prison sentence after a police dog found pot in the trunk of his car back in September 2011. But a Cook County judge decided this week that the 41 minutes a state trooper made Scott wait for the dog to show up was too long, and ruled that the marijuana could not be used as evidence against him. Without that evidence, prosecutors decided to drop the case. Scott, 52, said he is the owner of Kingston, Jamaica, based UIM Records. He also said he obtained his marijuana legally in California and asked if he could have it back. He was refused. Scott left the Markham courthouse a happy—and free—man, and strolled away puffing on his electronic cigarette. Not too many other people written about last …
Saturday, April 20, 2013
A former Plainfield North gym teacher pleaded guilty to meeting a teen for sex. And that was just one of the things going on in court this week.
More than two years after the police caught her in a car with a half-dressed student from the high school where she was a teacher, Ashley Blumenshine copped a plea. Blumenshine, a 30-year-old former Plainfield North gym teacher, will have to do 11 days in jail. She will also spend two years on sex offender probation and 10 yeas on the Illinois sex offender registry. She tearfully apologized before she was taken into custody to start doing her time. Let's look at what else was going on in the area's courthouses this past week: Check out all these stories and more on our Facebook page.
Saturday, April 6, 2013
A New Lenox man spoke of his "horrific" ordeal in the county jail after he was arrested for a murder someone else was wanted for.
We started the week off by talking with the New Lenox man jailed for two weeks for a murder allegedly committed by someone else with the same name. Pedro Hernandez, 67, said his time in the Will County jail was "horrific," and that he's looking for a lawyer to talk to about filing a lawsuit. But Hernandez's ordeal was just one of the things going on last week. There was also: Check out all these stories and more on our Facebook page.
Saturday, March 23, 2013
A Joliet man was charged with the brutal murder of his mother, and there was plenty more going on as well.
It was bad enough last week when a Cook County man appeared in court for allegedly beating his mother, stabbing her and leaving her in a ditch. But now this week we have a Joliet man who allegedly choked his mother, 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, and finally dropped her in the Des Plaines River. The body of Jeanie Parker, 54, remains missing as fire department divers brave the depths of the Des Plaines and police officers scour the river bank. Parker's son, Charles McCullum, 21, has been charged with her murder and is being held on a $5 million bond. Also in court this week, there was: See all …
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Catherine Peters remains steadfast in seeking justice for daughter, Michele, on the first anniversary of her death, and keeping Michele's memory alive for her young sons.
Since the 4 a.m. phone call she received one year ago today, Catherine Peters has lived with a dagger in her heart. On March 6, 2012, her only daughter, Michele Peters, 30, was fatally shot in the Chicago Heights home that she shared with her live-in boyfriend and two young sons. Sign up for the Oak Lawn Patch newsletter and follow us on Facebook. The boyfriend, George Kleopa, 33, has since been charged in Michele’s death. Kleopa has pleaded not guilty, maintaining the shooting was an accident. Prosecutors offer a different version of events, charging that Kleopa changed his story five times while being held for questioning by Chicago Heights Police. Michele grew up in Hometown and attended Oak Lawn Community High School. The slain woman’s…
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Saturday, February 16, 2013
Drew Peterson is either getting a new trial or he's heading to prison.
On Tuesday, the attorneys for Drew Peterson will make a final push to keep him out of prison by securing a new murder trial. Will County Judge Edward Burmila has set aside two days for the hearing, but some involved predict it will last much longer. If, at the conclusion of the hearing, Judge Burmila decides against calling for a new trial, he plans to head straight for sentencing. During the week that just ended, Will County State's Attorney James Glasgow took steps to avoid having to testify at Peterson's hearing. Glasgow filed court papers claiming that, as a prosecutor, special steps must be taken to force him to testify. He maintains Peterson's attorneys have failed to take those steps. That is just one of many issues to be addressed …
Thursday, January 31, 2013
Jerry Henderson, 41, was convicted of shooting and FBI informant to death during undercover gun and grenade sale.
An Alsip man accused of shooting an FBI informant twice in the head, who was cooperating in an active undercover investigation in 2006, was found guilty, Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez said in news release. Connect with Patch: Oak Lawn / Beverly-Mt. Greenwood / Evergreen Park A Cook County jury handed down a guilty verdict for first-degree murder to Jerry Henderson, 41, on Tuesday. Henderson was convicted of shooting and killing Timothy Forrest, 41, in May 2006. Forrest was shot to death when he met with Henderson in a car in a parking lot outside the Dolton Animal Hospital as FBI agents monitored the meeting nearby, the Associated Press reported at the time. Prosecutors said that Forrest had agreed to purchase firearms and …
Friday, September 7, 2012
Read all the latest coverage on the guilty verdict in the Drew Peterson case.
Thursday, July 26, 2012
Seven men and five women have been chosen as jurors for the trial set to start Tuesday.
The final five jurors and four alternate jurors were picked for Drew Peterson's much anticipated murder trial, and opening statements are expected to be heard Monday. Attorney Joel Brodsky said he will be the one handling opening statements for the defense and revealed his plan to tell "the story of Drew Peterson, from beginning to end." And when Brodsky is done with that story, said defense attorney Steve Greenberg, the jury will be convinced that Peterson did not murder his third wife, Kathleen Savio, by hitting her in the head and drowning her in a bathtub. "There's going to be no question she slipped in the tub and Drew was home when it happened," said Greenberg, who also scoffed at the idea that fresh bruises were discovered on Savio …
Fester Bestertester
4:22 pm on Monday, May 20, 2013
Drunkenly driving and drunkenly lying on the street. huh. more ›