Jury selection starts in murder re-trial
Prosecutors hope to find Edward L. Tenney guilty in the shooting death of an elderly Aurora woman -- again.
Nine years after the Illinois court reversed Tenney's conviction in the 1993 slaying of 75-year-old Virginia Johannessen, his re-trial will begin in earnest this morning when Kane County State's Attorney John Barsanti outlines the state's case.
Prosecutors and defense attorney Herb Hill spent Monday selecting a jury of six men, six women and three alternates. The trial is expected to last into next week.
Tenney, 48, was dressed in a white short-sleeved shirt and black slacks. Gray hair speckled his long goatee and his head was neatly shaved.
Tenney, formerly of Aurora, is accused of the Jan. 2, 1993 murder of Johannessen in her home off Felton Road in Aurora Township. She was shot and beaten with a hammer.
Tenney is serving a life sentence for the murder of dairy heiress Mary Jill Oberweis in October 1993, who lived down the street from Johannessen. He also is awaiting trial in DuPage County for the 1993 murder of a Jerry Weber, a 24-year-old carpet installer. If convicted, he faces the death penalty.
Barsanti prosecuted Tenney in 1998 and a jury sentenced Tenney to death in 1999. He, along with Assistant State's Attorney Jody Gleason, are working this case. They are not seeking the death penalty for Johannessen's murder.
Lionel Lane was convicted of Johannessen's murder in 1995, but the verdict was vacated when Tenney was charged. At Tenney's first trial for Johannessen's murder in 1998, the jury was not allowed to hear part of Lane's ex-girlfriend's testimony that he told her another man shot Johannessen while they were robbing her house of jewelry and other things to sell.
Lane was nowhere to be found at Tenney's first trial. The Illinois Supreme Court later ruled Tenney in 2002 should receive a new trial.
Lane is on the witness list for Tenney's new trial; his ex-girlfriend, Lorie Mohle can't be located, but Barsanti said the jury will be provided transcripts.
Judge Donald Hudson took great pains at the outset of jury selection Monday to leave no chance of any appeal on the grounds that jury itself was tainted or otherwise unfair.
After several jurors were dismissed for a variety of medical reasons, one woman raised her hand saying she recalled the October 1993 murder of Oberweis.
Hudson had the juror, along with Hill and prosecutors, approach the bench for a short, quiet conference. The woman was later dismissed.
The arduous selection process also had some light moments. One woman said she didn't realize her hearing was bad until she got into the courtroom and couldn't hear attorneys. An avid gardener and hosta society member explained that a society is educational while a "club," is social.