Jury finds man guilty of Wheeling rape

After nearly 17 hours of deliberations that began on Friday, a jury in Rolling Meadows found Matthew Schaffer, 33, guilty of raping a woman and stealing her property in a 2010 Wheeling home invasion.

The six-man, six-woman jury found the Highland Park native guilty of aggravated criminal sexual assault, home invasion and armed robbery, class X felonies punishable by six to 30 years in prison.

Jurors rejected Schaffer’s claim that the 31-year-old victim called his disposable cellphone to purchase marijuana and invited him to the condominium where she was staying to engage in a sexual fantasy he said she wanted to act out.

Prosecutors called Schaffer’s assertions lies.

Wearing a pantyhose mask, the former restaurant worker and admitted “weed dealer” was accused of climbing onto the second-floor balcony, slitting open a screen door, handcuffing the woman and threatening her with a knife and a gun before sexually assaulting her.

Police recovered Schaffer’s DNA from the woman’s T-shirt and found women’s pantyhose and a replica .380 handgun in his car. Officers also recovered the receipt from a Chicago shop where Schaffer pawned the Cartier watch which he stole from the victim, a physician who lives out of state. The receipt led police to Schaffer.

On Friday, jurors indicated to Judge Hyman Riebman several times that they were split.

After the verdict late Monday afternoon, a juror from Wheeling described deliberations as cordial but declined to go into detail about how jurors voted.

“The jurors I served with are most honorable, thoughtful, caring and intelligent people,” she said.

They had differences, she said, “but there was no head-butting.”

Defense attorney Ralph Meczyk expressed disappointment at the verdict, but praised the process, saying “the judge gave us a fair trial.”

He also indicated an appeal is possible.

“There are significant and meritorious issues I believe we are going to pursue at the appellate level,” he said.

Schaffer next appears in court on July 20 for the return of a pre-sentence report.