Closing arguments slated in Palatine murder case

Closing arguments could come today in the trial of a woman charged in the 2005 slaying of a Palatine educator.

Lawyers for Diana Thames, 50, of downstate Bloomington, said they had planned to conclude their case Tuesday, but a family issue kept Cook County Judge John Scotillo, who is hearing the case, out of court.

The two sides now are set to return to the courtroom at 11 a.m. today. Thames' trial began Jan. 7 but court dates have intermittent. She is charged with fatally stabbing her longtime friend and business partner, Cindy Wolosick, at Wolosick's Palatine condominium on Aug. 12, 2005.

Prosecutors allege the killing came after the two argued over business-related finances; Thames' lawyers have said someone else was there and suggested less-than-thorough work was done on the part of the police to establish who the real killer is.

At this point, Thames is "anxious to get it over with," her lawyer, Kathleen Zellner, said of the trial. Wolosick, then 46, was a speech pathologist at Lake Louise Elementary School when she died.