Conviction upheld in Barrington Hills double murder

The 2nd District Appellate Court in Elgin has upheld the conviction and life prison sentence of the man responsible for the 1996 murder of a Barrington Hills couple.

A three-justice panel of the court rejected claims that Peter Hommerson, 64, was found guilty after a 2008 trial that was flawed in several critical ways.

Marvin and Kay Lichtman were found shot to death inside the ruins of their mansion police said had been deliberately burned to the ground on Jan. 26, 1996.

Hommerson, a contractor, had been hired to work at the Lichtman home that day and disappeared into Mexico shortly after being questioned by police.

He was caught in 2005 and argued in his appeal that there was insufficient evidence to convict him at his trial three years later.

But the justices said the testimony from Hommerson's former wife, who said he told her to lie about his activities on the day of the murders and helped him get to Mexico, as well as the inconsistencies in his stories to police, were enough to convince a jury to find him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

The court also turned back Hommerson's claims that his wife should have been barred from testifying against him and that prosecutors made improper comments during their closing arguments.

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