Man's second murder trial opens in DuPage

Luigi P. Adamo is accused of luring a Schaumburg man into a DuPage County forest preserve, fatally beating him with a tire iron, stealing $8 from his wallet and then bragging about the crime.

But, after nearly 27 hours of deliberations last May, a judge declared a hung jury during the 26-year-old Wayne man's first trial after the panel's foreman said two jurors remained holdouts during three days of deliberations.

A second trial opened today in DuPage County with lawyers' opening statements. Adamo, who is free on bond, is facing first-degree murder charges.

Prosecutors said Adamo killed 31-year-old John Conrad in late October 2000 after luring him into Pratt's Wayne Woods near Bartlett. Adamo does not have a violent criminal history. He maintains his innocence.

"No one deserves to die the way John Conrad died," prosecutor David Bayer said during his opening statement. "He was lured into the woods, repeatedly struck over the head and about his face with a heavy metal tire iron until his life expired."

The murder remained unsolved for three years until a co-defendant's ex-girlfriend convinced him on July 17, 2003, to go to police. Jason Reardon, 24, of Aurora was charged with murder, too. But, as part of a plea deal, he is serving a 19-year prison term for armed robbery. He is expected to testify against Adamo, just as he did in the first trial.

Prosecutors said Reardon secretly recorded phone calls with Adamo. The jury will get to listen to those conversations during the trial, which is expected to take several weeks. Prosecutors said Adamo did not confess, but he made incriminating statements, such as when he said if police had evidence, they both would have been arrested.

During the first trial, Reardon testified that Conrad approached them and another friend, Eric Ewing, outside a Carol Stream restaurant and asked for a ride. He said the trio dropped him off at an Addison apartment, where Conrad wanted to buy drugs.

Both Reardon and Ewing, who has a drug-related history, told the first jury that Adamo lured Conrad back into the car to mess with him. Prosecutors said Reardon again would testify that he watched Adamo beat Conrad to death with the tire iron after the trio walked into the forest preserve.

Adamo did not testify during his first trial. The defense team painted Ewing, Reardon and Reardon's ex-girlfriend as liars and noted their inconsistencies. They criticized the police investigation and questioned why forensic tests weren't conducted on all the evidence.

The defense pointed to another man - who knew Conrad casually - as the likely killer, but police said he had an iron-clad alibi.

Prosecutors lacked the murder weapon or a concrete confession. Adamo's fingerprints, though, were found on the spare tire in Ewing's trunk and the tire iron was missing.

The trial, before DuPage Circuit Judge George Bakalis, continues this afternoon with the defense's opening statements.