Man testifies he saw Aurora man stabbed by son
Joe Holman heard a commotion outside his Westmont hotel room in the afternoon of May 28, 2011. And he opened his door to see the repeated flashes of a slashing knife.
The noise he thought may have been someone falling turned out to be the murder of William Clifford, a 63-year-old Aurora man who was visiting his son across the hall from Holman's room at the Homestead Studio Suites, 855 Pasquinelli Drive in Westmont.
"When he was done, he got up, and backed away and turned toward his room," Holman testified Wednesday. "I said 'Why? Why?' and he came back toward me as I stood between him and the older person on the floor. I told him, 'You can't come this way.'"
The man stabbing Clifford, Holman said, was his son, William Clifford III, 36, who is standing trial on five counts of first degree murder.
Prosecutors say the victim had rented a hotel suite for his son about a month earlier, after the the younger Clifford was kicked out of a Chicago YMCA for having alcohol. Prosecutors said the killing happened after the father and son began to argue about Clifford's living arrangements.
Assistant State's Attorney Jae Kwon said the younger Clifford, who did not drive, had grown accustomed to the benefits of living in the city, including the beach and walkability of places like the grocery store.
(Clifford) was frustrated with the living arrangements," Kwon told jurors. "And on May 28, 2011 he took it out on dad."
Kwon said the victim suffered several stab wounds including the fatal stab that punctured his left lung and heart.
The younger Clifford exited the hotel.
Holman said he feared Clifford would return for more carnage so he grabbed the murder weapon, a "heavy duty steak knife with blood all over it," and brought it into his suite where he put it on the counter as he called 911.
Kwon said three hours later, as police were investigating, Clifford returned to the hotel wearing a bloodied white T-shirt.
"In the madness, he nicked his own wrist and appears to have used the shirt to stop the bleeding," Kwon said.
Clifford's attorney, Chief Deputy Assistant Public Defender Brian Jacobs, however, said the case is one of a rush to judgment.
Jacobs said he believes police zeroed in on the younger Clifford immediately, without any other investigation, including checking further into Holman's story.
Clifford was initially found mentally unfit to stand trial but was returned to fitness last year following a stay at an inpatient rehabilitation facility run by the Illinois Department of Human Services.
Officials expect the trial to conclude on Friday.
Clifford, who has prior arrests in California, South Dakota and Texas, has no other recent criminal history in DuPage. If convicted he faces between 20 and 60 years in prison.