Man wants 3 perjury charges dismissed suspected murder case

A Fox Lake businessman linked to the disappearance and suspected murder of a McHenry County teen is asking a court to dismiss three of nine charges alleging he lied to a grand jury to cover up the boy's fate.

In court documents filed last week, the defense for Mario Casciaro claims that three allegations contained within a nine-count perjury indictment issued over the summer are irrelevant to the teen's disappearance.

Casciaro, 24, faces the charges in connection with a five-year investigation into the mysterious case of Brian Carrick, a 17-year-old Johnsburg boy who vanished Dec. 20, 2002, after working a night shift at a grocery store in his hometown.

Casciaro, who now co-owns Val's Foods in Fox Lake, was Carrick's supervisor the night he disappeared.

The charges against him allege the McHenry man lied under oath nine times when questioned before a McHenry County grand jury in February.

Among the lies, authorities contend, was his denial that he told another man to "scare" Carrick on the night the boy vanished, his testimony that he does not know what happened to Carrick, and his claim before the jury that he does not know where Carrick's body was located.

Court documents indicate prosecutors have audio recordings of a conversation between Casciaro and another man which contradict his grand-jury testimony.

If convicted of two or more of the perjury charges, Casciaro could face up to 10 years in prison.

It's widely believed, however, that McHenry County authorities are less interested in prosecuting Casciaro than they are in using the perjury charges, and threat of prison, to pressure him into disclosing what they believe he knows about Carrick's fate.

Casciaro's motion to dismiss focuses on three specific portions of his testimony which his defense says are not relevant to the Carrick investigation:

• His denial that he ever told anyone "As long as they don't have a body there's no case."

• His denial that he told someone other than family members that he had been subpoenaed by the grand jury.

• His denial that he told someone that the grand jury was trying to find out where another man put a body.

"There was no competent evidence presented to support the conclusion that the statements attributed to the defense (in those charges) were, in fact, material to the investigation," Casciaro attorney William Gibbs said in his motion to dismiss the three counts.

Prosecutors plan to file a formal response to the defense request in coming weeks.

"Our position is that the statements he made were material to the grand-jury proceedings," said Nichole Owens, criminal division chief for the McHenry County State's Attorney's Office.

McHenry County Judge Sharon Prather is scheduled to hear arguments on the defense's motion to dismiss Jan. 24.