McHenry man indicted in 2002 slaying

A McHenry County man was being held Saturday on $5 million bond after being indicted by a grand jury on murder charges in the 2002 slaying of 17-year-old Brian Carrick.

Mario Casciaro, of the 2700 block of North Patricia Lane in McHenry, was indicted on charges of first-degree murder and concealment of a homicidal death, McHenry County authorities said.

The indictment alleges Casciaro, or someone acting on his behalf, used intimidation and unlawful restraint in striking Carrick in the head, causing his death. Officials said Casciaro then concealed Carrick's death despite knowing of the homicide.

Carrick vanished Dec. 20, 2002, from Val's Foods, a Johnsburg grocery store where he worked. Casciaro was Carrick's supervisor. Police found traces of Carrick's blood and other indications of struggle inside the grocery store, but no other sign of the high school student at the time of his disappearance.

Casciaro was arrested in Fox Lake on Friday by the Johnsburg Police Department. But the breakthrough in the case may have come from a deal recently struck by a third party involved in the homicide.

Multiple law enforcement sources familiar with the investigation have said Shane A. Lamb, 25, of Lake Bluff, has agreed to testify against Casciaro in exchange for immunity from prosecution for his own role in Carrick's murder. Lamb was recently sentenced to six years in prison after admitting to an unlawful possession of cocaine charge in an unrelated drug investigation in Spring Grove.

Lamb is linked to the Carrick murder in both court documents and trial testimony from a 2007 indictment of Casciaro on perjury charges. The earlier indictment alleged Casciaro lied to a grand jury investigating what happened to Carrick. A man named Alan Lippert testified in that case that Casciaro admitted he and Lamb played a part in Carrick's disappearance. Lippert said Casciaro told him Carrick owed him money, and Lamb attempted to scare Carrick into paying it back, but it got out of hand resulting in an accident.

Casciaro denied that conversation to the grand jury and was found not guilty.

McHenry County State's Attorney Louis Bianchi has not publicly confirmed any deal with Lamb.

Bianchi could not be reached for comment Friday evening.