Defendant testifies he feared for life

Fear of repercussions and regret overwhelmed a drunken Alfredo Hernandez after he stabbed his friend six years ago, according to a videotaped statement.

"I never thought this was going to happen -- we were friends, we used to work in the same place. We used to eat together," Hernandez told Wheeling detectives in a tape played to a Cook County jury during his murder trial Thursday.

Hernandez, 32, is accused of killing Juan Carlos Cardoso, 23, outside his apartment complex at 291 Ninth St. in Wheeling.

The two men had spent much of April 14, 2002, drinking together.

But something turned sour, and they brawled following a trip to a Cajun restaurant in Wheeling where Cardoso borrowed money from his brother. Hernandez and another buddy left on foot pursued by Cardoso in his van.

"He said he would bring some gang members. He said he wanted to kill me and fight me," Hernandez said.

Later that evening, Cardoso came to Hernandez's apartment and called him out.

In the 2007 video, Hernandez admits to grabbing a kitchen knife and reacting when he came face to face with an unarmed Cardoso. As his friend lay on the ground, Hernandez ran from the scene and later fled to Mexico. Authorities extradited him last year.

"I was scared. I didn't want to go to jail and now here I am," Hernandez said.

But Cardoso's friend Roberto Flores Bahena testified the dead man was angry because Hernandez and another man beat him up and stole his money.

"He said he wanted his money back and a clean fight," said Flores Bahena, who is in prison on felony charges.

After Cardoso collapsed, Flores Bahena said he was chased by Hernandez and another man.

"I lost my friend that day. (He) killed my guy cold-blooded," Flores Bahena said.

The trial continues today in the Rolling Meadows courthouse.