Chapter 3: The jury never got to hear the truth.
Because of the ASAs using perjury, The Press and my Jurors did not get to hear my only truthful involvement in this case: Juan used me and Eileen as his alibi! On November 22, 1995, two Palatine Detectives surprise visited me at my home wanting me to verify Juan's 9 pm, January 8, 1993 alibi. I didn't even know he had used me as an alibi. It was over 2 years later, and I made it clear that I didn't remember what I did on Friday two weeks ago. But when given some specifics I told them the truth, which must have ruined 90% of Juan's story; enough that the younger Detective (Bell? ) told Detective Sergeant William King (King) that they would need to go back and talk to Juan. Before they left, I gave them Eileen's phone number to further ruin Juan's alibi, which she did with honesty. We assumed Juan was cleared by the Detective's follow up! I found out in 2002 while being interrogated after my arrest that Sergeant King didn't do that follow up to clear Juan as a suspect. I had to keep telling them that this was not my fault! When truth be told, I did not knowingly provide a false alibi for Juan, and for sure had NO part in committing these crimes! An important point to consider is this: ask yourself, Hmm....if Juan and I had committed these crimes together, it would make sense that we would've gotten our alibis straight before November 22, 1995, two years and ten months after the murders took place! Moreover, I would not have offered Eileen's phone number to further ruin his story. Hmm....why would we destroy Juan's alibi if he and I committed the crime together? Juan is American enough not to use his right or left hand man; if he committed these crimes, wouldn't that put us in jeopardy as well? In fact, the truth makes more sense - I didn't commit these crimes and as such, I had no reason to confer with Juan to get my story straight, nor would I knowingly lie for Juan!
On May 16, 2002, Juan and I were simultaneously arrested. During my interrogation I didn't have a specific alibi for Juan or myself until the Detectives said they had proof we met Eileen at the Carpentersville, IL, Jewel Osco store. My Jurors didn't get to hear me say that I remembered that day very well, nothing sinister....it's not the only time I ever met anyone at that Jewel Osco! I told the Detectives that I woke up and saw that Juan had dropped off his car at my home, knowing this meant he expected me to fix the door and window from an accident. Juan had been T-boned by Frank Poliak and had sued him. Knowing that I would most likely be doing it for free and that Juan wouldn't even be helping me, I reluctantly pulled it into my shop sometime during that day and was still working on it when my Mom and sister came home from work at about 5:30 to 6 pm, their usual time. I didn't have any employees. Friends stopped into my shop all day - Juan wasn't one of them that day, so I took his car on a long test drive to buy and sell weed to the people cruising in circles in the Crystal Lake area. There were no cell phones back then, but I was paged many times by Juan who wanted his car back. Irritated, I told Juan to pick up his car at the Carpentersville ghetto Jewel later that night, that I was going out with Eileen and wouldn't have time to drive all the way back to Hoffman Estates, IL. Eileen met me at the Jewel to go to her friend's condo. As we were pulling onto Route 25, Liberty Street, Juan ran up and begged to go with us. I had not seen Juan all day, up until this point! He wasn't acting abnormal, there was no money bag, or counting any money on any floors, nor was there any conversation about ANY robbery!!! If so, Eileen and I would have kicked him out and called the police immediately!
On May 16th, 2002, Juan made a ONE HOUR video confession implicating me (us) in the Brown's robbery and murders, claiming we were together all day working on cars, robbed Brown's, then met Eileen at Jewel. In our unit in Cook County Jail, Juan told me it wasn't his DNA and fingerprints, and that he confessed to this story implicating me because the Detectives were screaming at him, threatening to deport his wife, refusing to let him use the phone or to see his son who was in the car when the Detectives stormed the car and arrested both of them at a shell gas station. He told me he just said whatever they wanted!
"Official Misconduct" was partly proven during my trial when two of the many suspects wrongfully arrested for these murders testified. Educated and with integrity, both Casey Sanders Haef ( on 9-16-09 pages 42-77 in transcripts) and Jon Simonek (9-15-09 pages 69-93) testified how the Detectives violated their Constitutional Rights by psychologically torturing them into falsely confessing to the Brown's murders they had no part in committing and, just like Eileen, implicating others. See (EXHIBIT B). The Detectives used key details that had never been released to the public, that only the robbers and the Police would know such as: what meal was ordered and the register that was used, where the robbers sat to eat, that there was a warning shot and where it hit in the BACK of the kitchen out of public view, two guys shot IN the freezer section through plastic strips that separated the freezer section from the refrigerator section WITHIN a walk in cooler, what door the robbers entered and left from, how much money was stolen, and so on! Obviously all provided to them by the UNethical Palatine Police! To make all of this worse, Casey was appointed a Public Defender, Margaret H. Domin, in open court (8-28-09) in front of all parties because Casey was going to testify to the Palatine Detective's misconduct. The night before she was to testify, Casey and her family went to bed early so that she could get up early and make it into Chicago on time to testify. That night, without contacting her Public Defender, the Palatine Detectives went out of town to Casey's home, pounded on her door, getting her out of bed to question and intimidate her. They refused her requests that they leave, without ASAs or Palatine Police's scapegoat Detective Jim Bell present! The next day in court there was a sidebar blocking Casey from mentioning to the Jurors what the Detectives had done to her the night before. My Jurors should have been allowed to hear these very relevant facts of the Palatine Detectives continuing their official misconduct by going to Casey's home and trying to intimidate her. In contrast, if a citizen did this to any witness, they would be arrested for witness tampering and obstruction of justice!!! Casey and Jon weren't looking for attention, they were snatched up and tortured by Palatine Detectives simply for knowing Tod Wakefield! I never met Casey or Jon before they bravely came to court for me.