Deliberations begin in 2001 McHenry burrito restaurant slaying case
A jury began deliberations Monday afternoon in the third murder trial of Kenneth E. Smith, who is accused of shooting and killing the owner of a McHenry burrito restaurant during a botched robbery in 2001.
Smith, 36, formerly of Park City, was convicted in 2003 and 2008 and sentenced to 67 years in prison, but both convictions were overturned by an appellate court.
Smith’s most recent trial in Woodstock concluded Monday with prosecutors urging the jury to hold Smith responsible for the death of Raul Briseno, a 35-year-old father of two who authorities said chased Smith and another man on March 6, 2001, from the Burrito Express off Route 120 before he was shot and killed.
“This was a brutal and heinous and senseless crime committed in a cowardly fashion by a couple of cowards. Raul Briseno lost his life because he had the audacity to stand up for his livelihood,” said Assistant State’s Attorney Michael Combs, the lead prosecutor in the case. “This stops right here, right now, in this courtroom. (Smith is) a killer. You’re going to find him guilty.”
During the seven-day trial, prosecutors argued that Smith and Justin Houghtaling, 30, of Round Lake, donned ski masks and went to rob the restaurant to make some easy money. But Briseno and a cook, Eduardo Pardo, chased the pair out of the restaurant.
Houghtaling, who was unarmed, slipped in the parking lot and was grabbed by Briseno, who had a large butcher knife. But Smith, who had a gun, came back for Houghtaling, firing shots that killed Briseno, prosecutors said.
Houghtaling was arrested two months later and struck a deal with prosecutors to testify against Smith in exchange for the minimum 20-year sentence.
But when called to the stand in this trial, Houghtaling said he and Smith had nothing to do with the robbery, that he was “tired of lying” and “the truth had to come out.”
Smith’s defense team, led by David Jimenez-Ekman, argued that there was no physical evidence to tie Smith to the scene and that Pardo could not positively identify Smith or Houghtaling just days after the murder or during the trial.
Ekman argued that Houghtaling was 19 when he confessed, was high on hallucinogenic drugs when interrogated, that his story lacked detail and that detectives asked numerous leading questions.
Ekman pointed to several statements by a woman named Suzanne DeCicco, a 28-year-old heroin addict, who claimed she was the getaway driver when her boyfriend and cousin went to rob the burrito restaurant.
Ekman noted that DeCicco knew elements of the crime that were not public, such as Briseno being hit on the head with the pistol after being shot, and that a gun she claimed was used in the robbery could not be excluded as the murder weapon after being examined by a ballistics lab.
“The state has the wrong man here and, more importantly, the state has not proven beyond a reasonable doubt they have the right man,” Ekman said. “There is not a single person who took the stand, took an oath and said Mr. Smith was involved in any way.”
Combs stressed that Houghtaling was caught in his own web of lies and even apologized to Briseno’s widow after he pleaded guilty to the murder in November 2001. “(Houghtaling) said he was sorry because he felt bad for what he did,” Combs told the jury.
The judge sent the jury home after nearly eight hours of deliberations, which will resume Tuesday at 9 a.m.