Man questioned his mother about murder before police

Police were not the first to suspect Delia White had killed Audelia Bogard.

In the horror and panic of the first moments after White's son discovered his fiancée's body in the Mundelein apartment all three shared, Steven Arthurs asked his mother if she was the killer.

White, 57, was in the fifth day of her murder trial Tuesday, and a tape recording of her being questioned by Libertyville police Detective Don Smith was played for the jury.

On the tape, White told Smith what happened in the apartment on Deepwoods Drive on Nov. 11, 2005, when Bogard was found dead around noon.

She said her son was pacing frantically and trying to find his telephone to call police when he walked past her in a hallway.

"Steve said, 'Did you do this,' and I didn't answer him," White said on the tape. "I didn't believe it needed an answer because I couldn't believe he asked me that question."

As their conversation continued, Smith pointed out several things that could have fueled Arthurs' suspicion.

He said Arthurs had already told police he received a phone call from Bogard about 7 a.m. when she asked him to leave work and take his mother out of the apartment because the women were arguing.

All three residents were in a heated discussion the night before the slayings, Smith noted, over Bogard's refusal to allow White to drive her vehicle to the Champaign area on the day of the killing.

Although White continued to insist she had nothing to do with Bogard's murder, she conceded to Smith her position was weakening.

"If it comes down to the fact that all the evidence points to me, and that is the way it is," White said. "Well, I guess I am guilty."

Police say White did confess to the murder a few hours later, after a short meeting with Arthurs.

Testimony is expected to continue today.