Wednesday, February 6, 2013
One hearing after his pro se motion was granted, John L. Wilson received 2,600 pages of discovery documents Wednesday and his request to have his hands freed from cuffs during future proceedings will be considered in March.
The man charged with the 2011 murder of 14-year-old Lyons Township student Kelli O’Laughlin was back in court Wednesday morning, and during the first hearing since a granted pro se motion allowed John L. Wilson to represent himself, signed for thousands of pages worth of documents a defendant's lawyer would typically hold. Wilson, dressed in a yellow and green jumpsuit and surrounded by several armed guards, signed with cuffed hands four receipts acknowledging the state's turnover of about 2,600 pages of discovery documents to the defendant. The pages will be transported by law enforcement officers to the Pontiac, Ill., prison currently housing Wilson. Wilson asked presiding judge John Hynes if the documents could be mailed to him …
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
John L. Wilson, who is charged with the 2011 child murder in Indian Head Park, has been granted a motion of pro se with only stand-by counsel.
The man accused in the October 2011 murder of 14-year-old Kelli O’Laughlin in her Indian Head Park home has been granted the right to serve as his own lawyer as the case proceeds towards a likely trial. John L. Wilson was granted a pro se motion on Dec. 19 by presiding judge John Hynes. A public defender has been appointed as stand-by counsel only. Defendants have the right to represent themselves even against their own self-interest, said Pat Reardon, first assistant public defender for Cook County, and no one can stop them from exercising that right. But lawyers tend to think it’s a bad call. “Frankly, from the view of the public defender, it’s a nightmare,” Reardon said. “There’s an old saying that a person who has himself for a lawyer …
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
John L. Wilson, Jr., is scheduled to appear in court again next month.
John L. Wilson, Jr., the man charged with the brutal murder of 14-year-old Lyons Township freshman Kelli O'Laughlin, is scheduled to appear in court next month for a status hearing. The case against the Chicago man, who had been out on parole at the time he burglarized the teen's Indian Head Park home, has progressed slowly. Wilson was taken into custody on November 2, 2011, six days after prosecutors say he stabbed the teen to death. He was charged with first-degree murder. READ: Suspect Charged With O'Laughlin Murder Has Long Criminal History Wilson was presented with a 31-count felony indictment that included charges of first-degree murder, residential burglary, armed robbery, aggravated unlawful restraint and home invasion on …
Sunday, October 28, 2012
On a Saturday night exactly one year after a girl’s murder stunned the Lyons Township community, residents gathered to remember dedicate a new memorial.
On October 27, 2011, the horrific murder of teenager Kelli O’Laughlin roiled the Lyons Township community, precipitating a yearlong outpouring that shows no sign of waning. On October 27, 2012, hundreds of community members flooded tiny Sacajawea Park in northwest Indian Head Park to dedicate a new memorial beside Kelli’s Playground, as the park’s structure has now been officially renamed. It was Kelli’s—and her family’s—name for the park, which is just about as old as Kelli would have been. The memorial consists of a plaque, a bench and an eastern redbud tree, which will flower in the bright purple that has become a symbol for Kelli’s memory. On the plaque are inscribed lyrics from Disney’s The Fox and the Hound: “Goodbye may seem forever…
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
The public defender assigned to represent the man accused of murdering 14-year-old Lyons Township teen Kelli O'Laughlin said his client's incarceration nearly 100 miles away could pose a problem.
UPDATED 5:54 a.m. May 31 The assistant public defender assigned to represent John L. Wilson, the man charged with stabbing to death 14-year-old Lyons Township teen Kelli O'Laughlin, met his client Wednesday for the first time. On May 15, Wilson dismissed his attorneys, Naperville-based John Paul Carroll and co-counsel Michelle Gonzalez, and asked to represent himself. It was a move that surprised even Carroll. "It's insane for a person not to have an attorney," Carroll told Patch after the May 15 hearing. "That's like asking me to rebuild my own car engine." The judge asked Wilson at the time if he wanted some time to think about his decision. "I think you need to think hard and fast. These are serious matters. I believe there is forensic …
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
A man charged with burglarizing a home on Old Mill Lane in Burr Ridge last fall is scheduled to appear in Cook County Court today.
A man charged with burglarizing a home on Old Mill Lane in Burr Ridge last September is scheduled to appear in court today. Claude L. White, 46, of 1741 W. 80th Street in Chicago has been held in Cook County Jail on $200,000 bail since his arrest on Sept. 21. On that day, he is suspected of having burglarized a home on Old Mill Lane. Burr Ridge Police responded to a burglar alarm on Old Mill Lane on Sept. 21 and discovered the rear patio door to the home had been pried open. "A very short time after [we arrived,] the homeowners actually came home, and we learned pretty quickly from them what was missing from the home," Burr Ridge Deputy Police Chief Tim Vaclav told Patch in September. At the same time, Indian Head Park Police received a …
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Samuel Watson, a person of interest in the Old Mill Lane burglary in Burr Ridge last fall, made a brief appearance in court Tuesday.
Samuel Watson, a man police said was a person of interest in the Old Mill Lane burglary in Burr Ridge last September made a brief appearance in Cook County Court Tuesday. No motion was made during the appearance in which Watson was facing the judge on two cases of residential burglary in Indian Head Park. This is because Watson's co-defendent, Claude L. White, was unable to be present. White was arrested a few hours after the burglary was reported on Old Mill Lane on Sept. 21 after Burr Ridge Police came to assist on a suspicious vehicle call in Indian Head Park. The driver, later identified by White as Watson, fled the scene. Police arrested White after seeing items, in the SUV White was in when he was stopped, that matched the …
Friday, May 18, 2012
Samuel Watson, one of two men accused of burglarizing a home on Old Mill Lane in Burr Ridge last fall is scheduled to appear in Cook County Court Tuesday.
One of two men suspected of burglarizing a home on Old Mill Lane in Burr Ridge last September is scheduled to appear in court Tuesday. Samuel A. Watson, 33, of 1741 W. 80th Street has been held in Cook County Jail on $150,000 bail since his arrest on Sept. 23, 2011. He is suspected of burglarizing the home on Old Mill Lane two days prior to his arrest with Claude L. White, 46, of 1741 W. 80th Street in Chicago. Burr Ridge Police responded to a burglar alarm on Old Mill Lane on Sept. 21 and discovered the rear patio door to the home had been pried open. "A very short time after [we arrived,] the homeowners actually came home, and we learned pretty quickly from them what was missing from the home," Burr Ridge Deputy Police Chief Tim Vaclav …
Monday, April 23, 2012
Although John L. Wilson has twice proven impossible to examine, he did show new signs of comprehension in court on Monday.
The man charged in the October 2011 murder of 14-year-old Indian Head Park resident Kelli O’Laughlin has twice failed to cooperate with a mental-health examination by Cook County Forensic Clinical Services, prosecutors said in Cook County 5th District court on Monday. Attempts were made to examine John L. Wilson on April 17 and 20, both unsuccessful. Exam administers asked for an extension to try again, which Associate Judge John J. Hynes has granted. Hynes once again remanded Wilson to the Cook County Department of Corrections for a third exam later this week and issued a warning that future lack of cooperation would automatically invalidate any type of insanity defense. In contrast to his last court appearance, Wilson generally …
Friday, November 4, 2011
Wilson will appear before a judge in bond court this morning on charges of first degree murder in stabbing death of Kelli O'Laughlin.
(Updated news from this story with full details of the crime and investigation can be found here.) Information on the criminal background of the person charged can be found here.) Charges have been filed in the murder of a 14-year-old Indian Head Park teen. Although police have yet to release an official statement, the Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times and NBC5 report that the charges are for first-degree murder. John L. Wilson Jr., 38, of Chicago has been charged in O'Laughlin's death. Wilson is set to face a judge in bond court this morning. According to Fox News Chicago, Wilson was stopped the night of the murder by a Willow Springs police officer. Wilson told the officer his car had broken down and he was getting a cab. The officer …
Linda Twomey
2:55 pm on Wednesday, January 30, 2013
My thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of the victim. more ›