Next step in Palatine murder trial: the verdict

In the waning moments of Diana Thames' murder trial, as family and friends choked back tears, prosecutors gave the grisly details of how they believe a 25-year friendship met a criminal, brutal end.

It was Thames, they said Thursday, who'd quietly racked up charges -- for clothes, gas, groceries, plane tickets and more -- on a credit card issued to the business she co-owned with best friend Cindy Wolosick.

It was Thames, they said, who'd been in charge of the books as the duo's business began to struggle financially.

And it was Thames, they said, who picked up a knife to settle things after Wolosick confronted her -- plunging the sharp tip into Wolosick's body more than 20 times in her Palatine condominium.

At one point, they said, the knife went in with such force that the tip broke off in the skull of the woman Thames had made the godmother of her child.

It was a "brutal execution" heard by the couple sleeping in the unit below, assistant state's attorney Mike Andre said during closing arguments. "What you have is a classic motive: M-O-N-E-Y."

Thames, 50, of Bloomington, has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in the Aug. 12, 2005, killing.

A lawyer for Thames dismissed prosecutors' theory as both unfounded and laughable, saying there was no proof of financial mismanagement and insisting longtime friends "don't lash out and kill each other over something like that."

Attorney Kathleen Zellner instead focused on what she called a "forensic fiasco."

Zellner criticized police for not doing more DNA analysis at the Palatine crime scene, and specifically noted the lack of testing on Wolosick's underwear and condo door.

DNA and fingerprints were never taken, she said, from an investor who witnesses testified was angry about money he was owed from Thames' and Wolosick's business. And investigators, she said, never ran any tests to determine if a man had been in the condo.

Zellner also rehashed the defense's belief that Thames, who had carpal tunnel surgery on both wrists in 1994, lacked the strength to plunge the large knife repeatedly into her friend with such force.

But it's not so hard, prosecutors argued, to grab hold of a knife with a sharp tip and stick it into a person's flesh.

While all concede Thames was in Wolosick's condo the night of the murder -- the two had returned from a trip to Mexico -- Zellner insisted someone else was the killer.

"There is no justice in convicting the wrong person," Zellner said in her final remarks to Judge John Scotillo. "If (Thames) is convicted, the case is closed, and there is no opportunity to get the person who committed the murder."

Thames has told police she heard Wolosick's door buzzer sound in the middle of the night, heard a man's voice and then awoke hours later to the front door clicking shut. She showered, she said, and then found her friend's body.

Prosecutors question how she heard the buzzer and door, but not the stabbing. They also pointed to cuts and a blister on Thames' hands afterward, as reported by police.

"This killer wants you to believe she has nothing to do with Cindy's death," Andre told the judge. "But all the evidence said that she does."

Prosecutors maintain she stabbed Wolosick in her bed after the two fought about money, then cleaned up the scene and showered, waiting until hours later to dial 911.

Much of the prosecution's case hinges on a piece of Thames' fingernail -- a tiny chunk from the scene that an expert witness said bore Wolosick's DNA -- and two spots of blood: one from a pair of Thames' underwear that tests suggest could contain Wolosick's DNA, and one from the condo washing machine that tests showed carried Thames' own DNA.

Scotillo could convict Thames of a lesser crime in the bench trial. He said he could issue a verdict as early as Monday.

Trial: Prosecution points out holes in Thames' story