Rivera changed stories quickly, officer says

Right after he was accused of killing 11-year-old Holly Staker, Juan Rivera changed his story about what he was doing on Aug. 17, 1992 in "a couple of minutes," a police officer testified Friday.

Rivera, 36, is on trial for the third time in Lake County Circuit Court for the rape and murder of the Waukegan schoolgirl.

Detective James Held of the Lake County Major Crimes Task Force said he was sitting in a room with Rivera on Oct. 29, 1992 while another detective was discussing the results of a lie-detector test Rivera had taken with the test administrator.

Held said Rivera had already admitted that his original tale about being at a party when the girl was murdered was a lie, and told him instead that he had stolen a pair of stereo speakers out of a car.

"He said he took the speakers out of the car, then brought them back to his house," Held said. "He told me they were still sitting there in his basement."

But after polygraph operator Michael Masokas accused Rivera of killing the girl, Held said Rivera shifted gears again.

Held said Rivera began telling Masokas and Detective Rich Davis the story about the stolen speakers, but added a new twist.

"I was standing right there when he told them that he has sold the speakers to a guy named Eddy for a hundred bucks," Held said. "This was just a couple of minutes after he had told me the speakers were in his basement."

Rivera wound up confessing to the crime about 12 hours after the incident Held was describing, and a judge ruled in 1993 that the confession had been legally obtained.

Testimony in the case is expected to continue Monday.