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Gilberts man guilty in DUI crash that killed Wood Dale couple

"Chug. Chug. Chug. Chug."

Cook County Assistant State's Attorney Mike Andre repeated the word as he tilted his head back and feigned taking long swigs from a nearly empty bottle of vodka.

Andre set the scene in his closing argument by reenacting the prosecution's version of how Harold G. Ulmer Jr., 63, began his morning, shortly before causing a fatal collision July 15 in Barrington Hills.

It took less than three hours of deliberations Friday afternoon for a jury to find Ulmer, of Gilberts, guilty of reckless homicide and aggravated DUI in the deaths of 51-year-old Edward Aiello and his 48-year-old wife, Brenda, of Wood Dale.

"I'm just glad (Ulmer) can't kill anyone else," said Edward's sister, Gina, after the trial. "It was a violent, violent death and it could and should have been prevented."

Ulmer faces six to 28 years in prison, of which he'll have to serve 85 percent. He's been out of jail on $500,000 bond, After the verdict was delivered, the judge revoked Ulmer's bond and ordered him taken into custody.

Prosecutors say he was joy-riding across two counties, from Gilberts to an Arlington Heights hardware store, to "save a couple of bucks" on some supplies.

As his pickup truck headed east just before 9 a.m. on Route 62 in Barrington Hills, witnesses say, Ulmer bypassed vehicles stopped on a red arrow in the left-turn lanes at Route 59.

Ulmer turned and plowed into the Aiellos' Ducati motorcycle as it proceeded on a green light through the intersection, authorities said.

Defense attorneys didn't deny Ulmer drank vodka that morning. They didn't dispute he's an alcoholic who sought counseling in the past. They did, however, contest Ulmer was driving under the influence of alcohol when he collided with the motorcycle.

His blood alcohol content measured 0.104 percent, well over the legal limit of 0.08 percent. But it wasn't taken until nearly three hours after the crash.

A medical expert for the defense testified the alcohol had yet to absorb into Ulmer's bloodstream. Police testified he didn't show signs of impairment at the scene.

"You can't say with absolute scientific certainty what his blood-alcohol content was at the time of the accident," said defense attorney Ernie Blomquist. "You can't quantify it."

But prosecutors said Ulmer was a "raging alcoholic" and knew how to evade detection. He kept his drinking from his wife, hiding the vodka in the bag of a riding lawnmower. After the trial, prosecutors said Ulmer has prior DUI convictions in Iowa and Utah.

"(The jury) cannot say he should be guilty (because) he's a drunk," said Blomquist during his closing argument.

Ulmer showed no emotion as the verdict was read and expressed no remorse in court or to the victims' family.

At one point on his videotaped statement to police, Ulmer said the situation was "kind of humorous a little bit," prosecutors said.

"It just shows you the callous indifference he had when he killed two people," Andre said.

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