Prosecution says suspect lied to police
Prosecutors in the Peter Hommerson murder trial tried to show Wednesday that Hommerson lied to police when he told them of his activities on Jan. 23, 1996.
That is the day police believe Hommerson murdered Marvin and Kay Lichtman and burned their palatial Barrington Hills estate to the ground.
Hommerson, a contractor who was working for the Lichtmans at the time, told police he went to the victims' house about 10 a.m. on the day of their deaths but left a short time later.
He then rented a van in Crystal Lake at 11:30, went to his home in Algonquin around noon, stopped at a grocery and hardware store and did not return to the Lichtmans' house until 1 p.m. or later, police said Hommerson told them.
But the Lichtmans' next-door neighbor at the time, Kathy Blackmore, testified that she drove by the victims' house around 12:30 p.m. and there was a white van with red lettering on the side parked outside.
In earlier testimony, it was established that Hommerson owned a white van with the words "Chicago Reflections" written on the side.
Defense attorneys claim Hommerson could not have killed the couple and started the fire that destroyed the house because he is on videotape at a gas station about 6 miles from the mansion just minutes before the blaze began.
Hommerson was questioned extensively about his activities on the day of the murders two days after the incident.
He spent about 18 hours talking to police and was taken to Chicago for a lie detector test investigators told Hommerson he had failed.
Shortly thereafter, he fled to Mexico, where he was arrested in 2005 after some tourists recognized him from a segment on the killings on the television program "America's Most Wanted."
Blackmore also narrated a videotape tour of the interior of the Lichtmans' house.
In every room of the house shown on the tape there were works of art, from paintings to statues to Hummel and Fredrick Remington figurines.
In the basement, there was a bar with seating for eight, a pool table and a steam room.
The rear of the house was connected to a four bay garage, and the kitchen opened out to a large deck overlooking the 5-acre estate.
Blackmore testified she last saw Kay Lichtman alive about a week before the murders when Lichtman bought a $16,000 bracelet while the two were shopping.
Hommerson, 62, faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison if convicted of killing Marvin Lichtman, 78, and Kay, 75.
Testimony is expected to continue today.