Man asks to be own lawyer in retrial over stepdaughter's slaying

Laurence Lovejoy, facing possible execution if convicted of killing his teen stepdaughter, wants to act as his own lawyer when retried for the 2004 murder.

The 44-year-old high school dropout made the request Tuesday while surrounded by the court-appointed defense team fighting to save his life.

Lovejoy did not explain his reasoning, but DuPage Circuit Judge Kathryn Creswell set a Wednesday hearing on the issue.

In 2006, Creswell denied a similar request in which Lovejoy sought to represent himself during his first trial after he accused his lawyers of an undisclosed conflict of interest and refused to meet with them for several months.

DuPage State's Attorney Joseph Birkett, who is personally prosecuting the case, called Lovejoy a "monster" who is just playing games.

"He's anti-social and doesn't like anyone," Birkett said.

Erin "EJ" Justice, 16, was beaten, poisoned, stabbed and drowned March 27, 2004, in the bathtub of her Aurora townhouse, about three weeks after she accused her new stepfather of rape in their former home in Naperville.

Prosecutors argued Lovejoy killed Erin - a Waubonsie High School track standout who dreamed of becoming a model or crime scene investigator - in an effort to silence her about the ongoing sexual assault probe.

They said Lovejoy planned to make it appear as if Erin committed suicide, but he didn't anticipate the teen would be able to put up such a struggle. Police found a bloody scene in the kitchen, a stairway leading to the second floor, and the bathroom, where Erin's nude body was found. She suffered several defensive wounds.

Near her body, experts recovered what they said was Lovejoy's partial bare footprint marked in Erin's blood on a bathroom tile. After a six-week trial, a jury convicted Lovejoy and sentenced him to death in February 2007.

But, in September 2009, the Illinois Supreme Court overturned the verdict and ordered a new trial. Justices said Lovejoy was denied a fair trial because he was not given the chance to bring in an expert to rebut a sheriff's crime lab forensic scientist who gave testimony that contradicted her report regarding Lovejoy's partial footprint.

Lovejoy continues to maintain his innocence. Prosecutors lack a confession, but Lovejoy's prints were recovered elsewhere in the home on pieces of crucial evidence that authorities said were linked to the crime and cleanup efforts.

A fall retrial is anticipated.