Prosecution challenges claim Marni Yang was too short to fire fatal gunshot

Lake County prosecutors Tuesday challenged defense claims that convicted murderer Marni Yang was too short to be the killer of a 42-year-old pregnant woman prosecutors say she saw as a rival for the affections of former Chicago Bear Shaun Gayle.

Yang was convicted of first-degree murder charges in 2011 for the killing of Rhoni Reuter, who was found shot to death Oct. 4, 2007, in her Deerfield home. Yang later received two life sentences for the deaths of Reuter and her unborn child.

Judge Christopher Stride heard a second day of testimony Tuesday in Yang’s motion for a new trial.

Former Oak Park police officer and forensic expert Arthur Borchers testified Monday that the 5-foot-tall Yang is too short to have fired the shot that killed the 5-foot-9 Reuter.

But forensic expert Todd A. Thorne, testifying for the prosecution, said the height of Reuter’s killer could not be determined with a reasonable amount of certainty, based on his review of the report of Borchers and forensic investigator John Larsen.

Thorne said defense experts drew their conclusions while failing to consider what might have happened to the victim’s body after it was struck by a bullet.

“There is no set way a body is going to react when it’s shot,” he said.

During a sometimes heated cross-examination by Yang attorney Jed Stone, Thorne acknowledged he had not reviewed police reports, Major Crime Task Force reports or all crime scene photographs prior to his testimony.

Additional testimony Tuesday focused on defense witness Steven Wade, who was an apprentice at a North Shore barbershop Gayle and other professional athletes frequented. Gayle told authorities he was at the barbershop around the time of the murder.

In videotaped testimony played in court Monday, Wade said Gayle “just didn't seem himself” at the time of the killing.

Prosecutors attempted to call Wade’s credibility into question Tuesday through testimony from Grayslake police officer Shaun McMahon. He testified that when he arrested Wade in January 2022, Wade initially provided his brother's name instead of his own. He later said Stone was his attorney.

The hearing continues Wednesday. Yang told the judge Tuesday she will not testify.