I’m leaving the family this weekend and heading downstate with a my friend Brian on what’s probably going to be closure for a lot of people.
Those of you who have read the dedication to my book would remember my friend Mark Evans, who was brutally murdered a couple of years ago. Well, since then the person we feel responsible for the murder was arrested – which is good news since it’s believed he’s responsible for a number of killings. However, we ended up with a large pool of reward money that didn’t need to be awarded to anyone.
So, I found myself appointed to be one of the trustees of a group asked to establish a college scholarship in Mark’s name. And so we did, and a number of us are meeting Mark’s parents down at Eastern Illinois University for the dedication of the new arts center, and a small memorial ceremony.
The scholarship will benefit an art student from central Illinois who has an interest in new media.
Hopefully, it’ll do some good.

Couldn’t sum it up better.

Just got word from my pal Matt Geber that Atwoodfest is on for June 6. This is an annual celebration of the life of one of my best friends, Mark Evans.
If you’ve read the forward to Cash & Carry, you know a bit about him.
Mark was murdered three years ago in a vicious robbery gone bad. His killer was caught much later and is currently awaiting trial.
There will be much drinking of very bad vodka as that was his drink of choice. Salute!

About a month after my wife’s mom died suddenly, we received a phone call from Brian Peterlinz with some more unbelievably bad news: Our good friend Mark Evans had been found dead – murdered outside his Chicago home.
Mark – “Atwood” to his friends – knew countless people from all walks of life, and many of them came together. There were memorials at the site of course, but a number of us got together and came up with a large reward. Matt Geyber and I spent a few Sunday mornings around the neighborhood putting up reward posters and meeting people who lived in and around the area. Not everyone there is a gang-banger.
A few weeks after Mark’s death, another person was found shot dead in an alley not far away. What was especially significant about this 15-year-old is that Mark knew his family – they had rented the apartment downstairs.
Eventually, police discovered that the 15-year-old and three others had allegedly woken Mark up late at night (he probably opened the door thinking it was a friend needing a place to crash) in order to take Mark to an ATM and rob him.
When Mark was killed, the 15-year-old apparently talked too much about it – maybe afraid of what had happened. I don’t know.
But police say he was killed to silence him about Mark’s murder, and their work eventually led to the arrest of Jorge Pena, whose trial started today. The trial is for the murder of the 15-year-old, but Mark was mentioned several times in terms of motive for this killing.
I’m not a courtroom artist, but below are a few sketches of Mr. Pena.



The trial began opening statements in which the prosecutor laid out his facts and the defense attorney pronounced his strategy – the defense is essentially claiming that Pena was no longer a street gang member and that other members are framing him because of that.
The first witness was the 15-year-old’s mother. She tearfully identified photos of her son and left the stand. She is a tall, beautiful woman, originally from Sudan and – in spite of her son’s involvement – the two families have become close. I learned today that Mark was a friend to them, which did not surprise me.
The next witness was a man who described Pena and the boy arguing the night of his death. He claimed Pena pushed the boy and told him he talked too much. He was drinking that evening, but did not waver in his description.
The second witness was even more compelling – a then 13-year-old girl (now 16)who described her encounter with the boy and seeing Pena maybe loading a pistol, saw Pena run from the alley shortly after hearing gunshots and finally discovering the boy’s body. It took weeks for her to come forward and tell the police. Her testimony was very emotional and she was clearly upset when she first took the stand – at times having to pause due to tears.
The final witness of the day was a woman who at one time had a short “intimate” relationship with Pena. She testified that Pena told her he killed Mark and the boy with two different guns, and that the guns had been disposed of.
For each witness, the defense asked if the street gang had threatened them to testify – all denied it.

It’ll be up to the jury to sort out the truth of this – I tend not to put much credence with the defense’s approach but I recognize that I’m biased. But I also know the defense is not calling any witnesses (at the moment) – their case will be that the prosecution did not prove their case. It is their job to put up the most effective defense they can in all cases.

But, as mystery writer and professional court advocate Michael Allen Dymmoch says, there will be no winners in this trial. A young man maybe about 18 on trial for murder. A 13-year-old who found a dead body and a year later became pregnant and dropped out of school. A woman of around 40 with at least two daughters who – until about a year ago – was a full voting member of a Chicago street gang who had liasons with at least one barely-legal boy.* A 15-year-old boy with his entire life ahead of him., cut short in part due to his involvement in a street gang.
And, of course, Mark.
At best, we may get a killer off the streets. But, that’s what we need to do.

* Updated to correct for Pena’s age

Matt attended the trial today and described it as grueling. There were eight witnesses including four police. Their testimony was pretty matter-of-fact, focusing on the investigation. The defense did not cross-examine any of the police, so I won’t go into much detail there.

The defense attorney pretty much continued his theme of challenging witnesses from the neighborhood, trying to assert that Pena was not a member of the gang at that time and that the witnesses were being forced to testify by the gang. Today he also harped on the witnesses not remembering exact dates and the fact it took them a long time to go to the police with what they know.

All of the witnesses, though, asserted that Pena was in the gang and they were not being forced to testify. And, Matt reports that the flamboyance of the defense attorney, his numerous objections (of which only about two were sustained today) and his general manner are not winning favors with the judge. While it is a jury trial, if juries like a judge they will take what cues they can from him.

The first witnesses were a brother and sister. Matt described the brother as a hard-core gangbanger. He testified that Pena told him the 15-year-old needed to be silenced. The defense brought up his prior criminal record. Matt said the brother, while he was testifying and upon leaving the stand, stared down Pena and his family. Pena had about six people in attendance today, Matt says.

The sister was up next. She was and still dates a ranking gang member, one mentioned by the defense. Remember, the defense gets a list of people who will testify and they do have access to an investigator who was in attendance yesterday, so it’s not surprising that this would come up. And it helps explain how the defense came up with their assertion. The sister was the friend of yesterday’s 13-year-old witness. She corroborated what the girl said yesterday and also said she heard Pena talk to her brother.

I’m going to skip a bit to talk about the fourth witness from the neighborhood. She came late and was the the last non-police witness. A women in her late 20s, Matt describes her as perhaps the hardest-core of the gang members so far. The Penas lived with her for a month after the murders. She said Pena admitted to her that he killed the 15-year-old and that the boy had no idea he was going to be killed. Pena allegedly told the woman that he got the boy into the alley by saying he was going to just show him the gun. Pena would not admitt to Mark’s murder though.

Matt wasn’t sure how successful these three witnesses were. It didn’t feel like a slam dunk. Certainly the content of their testimony is compelling, but they were or are gang members and their demeanor showed it.

The last witness I’ll report on was actually the third witness of the day. Tim Lysinski (not sure of the spelling so I’ll refer to him as TL) is the only person so far convicted of involvement with Mark’s murder.

TL was the homeless kid who, when picked up by police on a minor drug charge, admitted to being the lookout during Mark’s murder. His testimony was extremely difficult to listen to, according to Matt, because he went into detail about the night of Mark’s death.

That night, TL met the Pena brothers and the 15-year-old by chance. He stayed at the corner while the others knocked on Mark’s door and brought him outside.

Right after the murder they ran under the viaduct to an abandoned garage. There, TL said Pena threatened him and the boy in the garage, said he’d kill them if they said anything. After about 20 minutes, they separated. TL went to Des Plaines and stayed with a friend before returning to the neighborhood two weeks later. He said he talked to Pena, who said the 15-year-old was “running his mouth” and that he needed to be silenced.

During the cross examination, Matt said he was sharp. TL actually corrected the defense attorney on a fact at one point. Defense harped on him being another gang banger, and made sure the jury knew he was there as a result of a plea bargain.

Besides the witnesses, the prosecution started introducing evidence about a car Pena and the 15-year-old were in that day, including fingerprints and palm prints. It was recovered a day after the murder, which seems to back up some of the 13-year-old’s testimony that she saw the two in a car together.

Thursday will be some more detailed forensics information that sounds like it’s establishing specific details of the shooting. Late word has it that Pena may not testify. Brian plans to attend tomorrow, and I’ve asked him to blog the day. Matt will take a well-deserved break. I will definitely be attending Monday, when final summations occur and the case should go to the jury. I’ll stay as late as I can, but I wouldn’t be surprised if deliberations take a day or so. Matt will also try to attend. Mark’s parents can not stay past the weekend.

Brian intends to get a more complete post up as soon as he can, but the short story is most of the shortened day (due to the holiday) was forensics testimony. According to Brian, they showed how the ballistic information found by police seem to back up what witnesses have said:
- That the boy was killed by Pena at close range and, based on wounds to his arms, may not have realized that he was going to be shot.
- That two different guns were used, one for Mark and one for the boy.
- That Pena and the boy were in a stolen car together earlier that day, based on fingerprints found in the car.
I’ll be attending tomorrow’s (Monday) session, which will be closing arguments and final instructions to the jury. I’ll try to post something here on the blog from the courthouse, but I don’t know how long it’ll take to get a verdict. I’ll be staying as long as I can tomorrow.

Closing arguments are done. I’m in the waiting area with the 15-year old’s mother as she tells a writer about how she brought her son from Sudan to keep him from being taken to fight in the civil war there, only to have killed in America.
The prosecutors gave arguments first, pretty much going over the details of their case.
Defense then got up and put forward the assertion that Pena was being framed by the street gang, and all the witnesses were liars. His description of events seemed designed to confuse rather than describe.
Prosecution’s rebuttal was forceful – almost surprisingly so. But effective, in my opinion.
So now we wait for the jury’s decision.

We’re waiting outside the courtroom right now.

Minimum 45 years – sentencing in august

When someone pops their head in the door and announces that there’s a verdict, everything changes.

You can kind of handle the trial, hearing details of your friend’s death that you didn’t know before and wondering if you have the right person on trial. There’s a lot to think about, a lot of emotion.

Even when the closing arguments are done and the judge is giving final instructions to the jury, you’re calm. You speculate about testimony, whether the arguments put forth by the defense will hold water. Whether the people on the jury will find some reasonable doubt.

But then, a bit over an hour later, you’re hustling to the elevator bay with the prosecutors, assistants and other members of your group. Your heart is pounding, your hands sweating. They hold off telling the family of the accused – they get one side situated in the courtroom first. They call in extra deputies. They secure the area.

You try to reassure each other – even if it doesn’t work out now there’s still Mark’s murder to prosecute.

Then you’re in the courtroom, sitting in the front row. I now know what writers mean when they describe feeling your heart pounding in your chest. When it feels like it might burst.

And in the moments before the jury comes in, while you’re waiting for everyone to file in and sit down, you have a chance to think. What do you pray for at this time? What words would be appropriate to use? What could I ask god for in this moment? And I couldn’t – I found I couldn’t wish the worst outcome of this trial on someone who right now is my worst enemy. I didn’t wish it on him, I didn’t want this. But it had to happen.

Then the jury files in, and maybe people experienced in court proceedings can read their faces, but I could not. They were quiet, solemn and serious. It was when they handed the verdict papers over to the judge that I realized I could see what their verdict was.

One piece of paper and the verdict was innocent. Two meant conviction – first degree murder and use of a gun in the crime. The judge looked them over, removed some sheets and handed two pieces of paper back to the jury.

Guilty. The jury foreman read the two verdicts. The defense requested that the jury be polled and each person affirmed the decision.

Afterwards, there’s not what I would call relief. Because nothing good happened here. Your body calms down, you contact friends and family. They contact you. It’s hard to figure out what to say, except that a very big thing finally happened. After three years, you know that a murderer is off the streets.

The next court date is August 5th, when Pena may be sentenced. He will likely appeal everything and anything, every step of the way. Because that is all he has left, for at least the next 45 years.