Friday, May 17, 2013
Former Deerfield resident Daniel Baker, who bludgeoned a Vernon Hills woman to death with a baseball bat, will serve his entire 47-year sentence.
- POLICE & FIRE
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Friday, May 17
Lake County Circuit Court Judge Daniel Shanes is standing by the 47-year sentence imposed on former Deerfield resident Daniel Baker, reported the Lake County News-Sun. Baker, who did not appear in court Friday for the hearing, was convicted last November of using a baseball bat to bludgeon to death 50-year-old Marina Aksman, of Vernon Hills, after she encouraged her daughter, Kristina, to break up with him, reported Patch. Judge Shanes also would not reconsider the finding that Baker was mentally fit to understand the court proceedings, according to the News-Sun. "The court found this case to be one of extreme and needless violence — truly senseless destruction. Indeed, the court found the evidence showed the defendant’s behavior was …
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
A McHenry County jury found Mario Casciaro guilty Tuesday of first-degree murder.
A jury found a 29-year-old man guilty Tuesday of first-degree murder in the presumed death of a Johnsburg teen he worked with him at a local supermarket more than 10 years ago, according to the Northwest Herald. Mario Casciaro could now face a minimum of 20 years in prison for his role in the presumed death of Brian Carrick who went missing in December 2002 and whose body has still not been found, according to the Northwest Herald. Carrick was 17 years old at the time of his presumed murder. Prosecutors argued in 2002 that a drug debt led to a physical altercation at the grocery store, Val's Foods, in Johnsburg, which was owned by Carrick's family and was also where Casciaro, Carrick and another man, Shane Lamb worked, according to the …
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Lawyer for Deerfield man convicted of beating a Vernon Hills woman to death with a baseball bat again asks judge to consider Baker’s competence.
Sentencing for a Deerfield man convicted of beating a Vernon Hills woman to death nearly three years ago was delayed a second time Tuesday when the judge ordered a mental fitness evaluation after a request by his attorney, according to a Chicago Tribune story. Daniel Baker of Deerfield was convicted of murdering Marina Aksman, of Vernon Hills, the mother of his then girlfriend, Nov. 5 by Lake County Criminal Court Judge Daniel Shanes, according to coverage by Patch. “I’m not finding a bona fide doubt as to fitness,” Shanes said in the Tribune story. “It can’t hurt to have another opinion.” With that, he ordered a review of Baker’s competency and continued the case until March 20. When Shanes convicted Baker in a bench trial Nov. 5, he …
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Convicted Deerfield murderer writes own motion claiming his former girlfriend killed her mother, not him.
A Deerfield man convicted Nov. 5 of beating a Vernon Hills woman to death with a baseball bat in April, 2010, now claims the victim’s daughter, his former girlfriend, committed the crime, according to an article in the Chicago Tribune. Daniel Baker, 24, of Deerfield filed a motion in his own handwriting maintaining his innocence in court today which was presented by his attorney, Ed Genson, according to a report in the Daily Herald. The eight-page document was titled, “Not Guilty.” Earlier: Nerheim Appoints Special Prosecutor in Baker Case Baker was scheduled for sentencing Wednesday but Judge Daniel Shanes postponed that hearing when the motion was presented, according to an article in the Lake County News Sun. Shanes told the parties to …
Thursday, December 20, 2012
A Deerfield man convicted of murdering a 69-year-old Highland Park resident in 1996 will get his DNA tested as a result of an order made by a Lake County judge Friday.
A Deerfield man convicted of murdering a 69-year-old Highland Park resident in 1996 won the right to have the DNA under the victim's fingernails tested as a result of an order made by a Lake County judge Friday, the Highland Park News reports. Louis Rozo, formerly of Deerfield, has been serving a 75 year prison sentence for murdering retired college professor Christy Shervanian, 69, on Dec. 1, 1996, according to the Chicago Tribune. The newspaper reports Rozo, a former computer draftsman, tortured and strangled Shervanian in his Highland Park home because he was jealous of Shervanian's friendship with Rozo's lover. Rozo filed a motion in Lake County four years ago asking for a DNA sample to be taken from Shervanian's fingernails, …
Saturday, November 3, 2012
Defense argues Daniel Baker was insane when he bludgeoned girlfriend’s Vernon Hills mother to death with baseball bat.
A Lake County Criminal Court judge will decide Monday morning whether a Deerfield man understood he was committing a crime when he beat a Vernon Hills woman to death with a baseball bat more than two years ago, according to a report on ABC Chicago. Lawyers for Daniel Baker of Deerfield argued during closing arguments Friday in Waukegan he did not believe he knew he was doing anything criminal when he struck Marina Aksman of Vernon Hills with a baseball bat killing her April 1, 2010, while her daughter and Baker’s then girlfriend, Kristina Aksman, watched, according to a Daily Herald story. Earlier: Psychiatrist: Baker Was Insane During Attack “There is no reason this young man would have done what he did unless he was insane," Baker …
Thursday, October 25, 2012
After Deerfield man declines to testify in the murder of a Vernon Hills woman, a rebuttal witness for the prosecution countered defense claim Michael Baker was not sane at the time of the crime.
Daniel Baker, a Deerfield man accused of beating Vernon Hills resident Marina Aksman to death with a baseball bat over two years ago was called sane by a prosecution expert witness after he chose not to testify in his own defense Wednesday, according to the Chicago Tribune. Baker has asked to testify each day of his trial, now in its second week, but when he had the opportunity Wednesday he chose to invoke his right not to testify against himself under the United States Constitution, according to a report on WGN. “I have my rights in tact here,” Baker said in the WGN story. Earlier: Psychiatrist: Baker Was Insane During Attack Before Baker testified, Psychiatrist Alexander Obolsky told the court Baker was insane at the time police say he …
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Earlier: Kristina Aksman tells how Daniel Baker of Deerfield hit her mother with a baseball bat.
(Update at 10:45 p.m.) A witness in the Daniel Baker murder trial testified today the Deerfield man’s DNA was found on the handle of the baseball bat prosecutors claim was used to kill Vernon Hills woman Marina Aksman, according to a second story in the Daily Herald. Kelley Lawrence of the Northern Illinois Crime Lab also told the court the driver’s side air bag that inflated on Baker’s car when he crashed it into Aksman’s home contained both his DNA and that of his then girlfriend and Aksman’s daughter, Kristina Aksman, according to the Daily Herald. (Earlier at 1:25 p.m.) The former girlfriend of a Deerfield man accused of beating her Vernon Hills mother to death with a baseball bat told Lake County Criminal Court Judge Daniel Shanes how…
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Defense claims Deerfield man did not know what he was doing when he beat a Vernon Hills woman to death. Prosecutors offer evidence of intent.
Neither prosecutors nor defense lawyers disagree Daniel Baker bludgeoned Marina Aksman of Vernon Hills to death with a baseball bat over two years ago or has mental health issues, but evidence they present on the legal definition of insanity may well determine the Deerfield man’s fate, according to a story in the Chicago Tribune. Opening arguments were Tuesday. Defense attorneys led by Ed Genson argued a “tragic, perfect storm” of events culminated in Baker not realizing his attack of Aksman was wrong, according to reports in the Daily Herald. Genson said he would prove Baker did not appreciate the criminality of his actions. Assistant Lake County State’s Attorney Patricia Fix claims Baker knew what he was doing because Aksman was trying …
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Deerfield man accused of murder keeps lawyer, asks judge to hear case.
As the murder trial of a Deerfield man accused of killing a Vernon Hills woman with a baseball bat begins today, pretrial drama ended Monday as Daniel Baker chose not to fire attorney Ed Genson and be tried by a judge rather than jury, according to the Mundelein Review. Lake County Criminal Court Judge Daniel Shanes ruled once again Baker was fit to stand trial—he issued the same ruling Friday—after Baker’s mother testified that her son was afraid to come to court Monday because Genson was part of the Russian Mafia, according to the Chicago Tribune. Earlier: Judge Rule Baker Fit To Stand Trial Shanes believes Baker has “flights of fancy” and “significant mental health issues,” but thinks he is an intelligent and precocious individual who …
jab Zion
1:01 pm on Saturday, November 3, 2012
and he could understand that he was not welcomed by the victim? more ›