Killer of Barrington Hills couple gets life behind bars
Peter Hommerson became an entrepreneur while running from accusations he killed a Barrington Hills couple and torched their mansion.
Hommerson, 62, was operating a restaurant in Ixtapa, Mexico, as recently as 2005. However, he'll never again set foot in La Yarda Mexican eatery, known for its 3-foot-tall beer glasses.
At a hearing Friday, Lake County Circuit Judge John Phillips gave Hommerson a mandatory life sentence in prison, with no chance of release, for slaying Marvin and Kay Lichtman. A jury convicted Hommerson of the murders in January.
Hommerson, who entered the courtroom with a smiling glance at defense attorney David Weinstein, made a statement to Phillips before he was formally sentenced.
"The only thing I want to state is I'm innocent. … I'm not guilty of this crime. The charges are false. They got the wrong person," Hommerson said.
Lichtman family members had no doubt about Hommerson's guilt. One nephew, Patrick Quillinan, said his family thought of nothing but wanting Hommerson captured since he fled the United States in 1996.
Quillinan told the court in a victim-impact statement his family can now properly cherish the memories of the Lichtmans with their killer going behind bars for life.
"Unbeknownst to Peter Hommerson, the past 12 years of our lives have been focused on him," Quillinan said.
Marvin Lichtman, 78, and his wife, Kay, 75, were remembered for hosting cookouts at their Barrington Hills home and being the keepers of family mementos. Marvin Lichtman was a self-made millionaire whose savvy investing and heating and plumbing supply business gave him the means to buy the $1.5 million, 22-room mansion on Ridge Road.
Hommerson was a glass worker hired by the Lichtmans when he shot the couple to death Jan. 23, 1996. He set the mansion ablaze before fleeing to Mexico shortly after the killings.
But Hommerson's nearly 10 years on the run ended in Ixtapa, when police snared him in October 2005. Tourists told cops they recognized him as the La Yarda owner after viewing a segment on the Lichtman slayings on the "America's Most Wanted" television program.
Weinstein reiterated Friday that Hommerson fled because of his fear of authorities, rooted in experiences in his native Hungary. Weinstein said there was no physical evidence linking Hommerson to the murders and that an appeal of the jury's guilty verdict will be filed.
Lake County Deputy State's Attorney Jeff Pavletic said Hommerson's flight, questions about his whereabouts after the murders, financial problems and other evidence were more than enough for a conviction.
"Circumstantial evidence cases can be the most compelling cases you can have in the American courtroom," Pavletic said.
Weinstein tried to show Hommerson's soft and artistic side to Phillips at the sentencing hearing. He submitted to the judge the happy faces of young women and children that Hommerson drew using a small pencil in the Lake County jail.
Phillips said he was struck by Hommerson's signed artwork and his ability to plan the Lichtmans' deaths. The judge told Hommerson it might be just as well a motive has never been established, because the murders were an "atrocity."
"It was overwhelming circumstantial evidence of your guilt in this case," said Phillips, who denied a motion for a new trial for Hommerson.