Co-defendant's ex-flame testifies in murder trial

For nearly three years, police hunted the killer of a Schaumburg man slain in a northwest DuPage County forest preserve.

They lacked a solid suspect, murder weapon, motive and witnesses, and had scant physical evidence.

Then, in July 2003, Sarah Haggard gave detectives the break they needed.

She said her ex-boyfriend's friend, Luigi P. Adamo, told her in October 2000 that he killed a homeless man. She said her boyfriend admitted also being there.

Haggard testified Wednesday during Adamo's second trial that she kept the secret for years until she could no longer be silent.

"I did need peace of mind," she said. "It was driving me crazy."

Adamo is accused of killing 31-year-old John Conrad with a tire iron, robbing him of $8 and later bragging to friends, including Haggard.

His first trial ended May 30 in a hung jury after the panel failed to reach consensus despite 27 hours of deliberations in three days. Adamo, 26, did not testify.

Prosecutors said their witnesses, physical evidence and the defendant's own statements prove his guilt.

The defense team insists the witnesses, including Haggard, are too unreliable and inconsistent to believe. They point to another man -- whom police ruled out as a suspect -- as the real killer.

Haggard, 24, said she dated Jason S. Reardon back in October 2000 while she attended Lake Park High School in Roselle. She said Reardon introduced her that August to Adamo.

Two months later, she said, Adamo admitted killing a homeless man in Munger Woods. She said the conversation occurred while they, along with Reardon, hung out at Adamo's house in Wayne.

Hikers found Conrad's body Oct. 28, 2000, in Pratt's Wayne Woods, off Munger Road near Bartlett. The next day, a short newspaper story reported the grisly discovery in the woods.

Haggard said a cocky Adamo showed her the Sunday article and bragged that police would never find him. During a heated cross-examination, Haggard held firm that Adamo confessed.

"I heard the story before I saw it in the paper," she said. "So, I knew it was true. That was enough to convince me."

Nearly three years later, in July 2003, Haggard contacted sheriff's police while away at college and agreed to record conversations with her now-former boyfriend Reardon.

At her urging, he went to police and offered to get evidence against Adamo. Prosecutors said Adamo incriminated himself during a secretly recorded conversation with Reardon.

Reardon is serving a 19-year prison sentence after pleading guilty Oct. 7, 2004, to armed robbery for his role in the crime. Initially, he also faced murder charges. As part of the plea deal, he testified against Adamo last May.

Reardon, 24, will testify again this morning. In the first trial, he said Conrad approached him, Adamo and another friend outside a Carol Stream restaurant and asked for a ride. They dropped him off in Addison to buy drugs, but Reardon said Adamo wanted to go back to rob Conrad.

In his previous testimony, Reardon said the other friend, Eric Ewing, left them alone with Conrad after dropping them off at the forest preserve. He said Adamo told Conrad they could buy drugs there but, after walking deeper into the woods, instead beat Conrad to death.

Prosecutors said Adamo's fingerprints were found on the spare tire in Ewing's trunk. The tire iron was never found.

The trial before DuPage Circuit Judge George Bakalis is expected to last several weeks. Adamo is free on a $500,000 bond.