Witness: Suspect worked with hands
Years after she'd had carpal tunnel surgery on her wrists, Diana Thames helped build a loft-style bed in the home of a friend, a woman said in court Wednesday -- doing some of the hammering, painting and assembly of the bed herself.
That testimony, offered by the final prosecution witness in Thames' murder trial, aimed to dispel defense team claims that the 50-year-old Bloomington woman had lacked the ability to commit the crime she's charged with: killing her longtime friend by driving a knife repeatedly into her chest, head and neck in the bed of her Palatine condo.
At one point, authorities have said, the kitchen knife went into Cindy Wolosick's body with such force that the tip broke off in her skull.
Thames' attorneys say her wrist surgeries, done in 1994 -- more than a decade before the August 2005 murder -- would have made it impossible for her to perform such a powerful execution. They plan to offer a final witness today to address that issue.
Prosecutors allege Thames did wield the weapon -- killing Wolosick, an educator at Lake Louise School in Palatine, after the two had argued over finances relating to a co-owned home rehab business.
Several witnesses testified about Wolosick's concerns about the business finances, which Thames oversaw. One witness also described cuts on Thames' fingers after the killing and a blister beneath her thumb.
Attorneys for Thames, who haven't disputed that she was sleeping at Wolosick's condo the night of the murder, say someone else did the killing.
They've focused on what they say is insufficient police work, offering witnesses who said not enough DNA samples were taken and that the likely suspect would be male.
Thames eventually confessed to the killing, but those statements were barred from use at the trial after her attorneys argued she'd been denied her right to a lawyer and intimidated into confessing.
The trial is set to resume at 1:30 p.m. today before Cook County Judge John Scotillo, and the two sides may offer closing arguments before the day's end. Scotillo has said he likely will issue a ruling on Friday, Monday or Feb. 11.