Prosecutor paints angry picture of suspect

Edmund Edwards was on a hot streak during a dice game outside a Carpentersville apartment complex May 1, 2005.

Shortly thereafter, the 25-year-old Chicago Ridge man was dead from a bullet in his back, clutching $140 in his hand with another $670 in his pocket.

Kane County prosecutors argue Michael Calabrese of Wauconda lost big that night and decided to take it all back with the help of a gun.

"The defendant then announced that the person who left with the most money was going to get stuck up," Assistant State's Attorney Bill Engerman said during his opening statement Tuesday. "When (Edwards) wouldn't give up his winnings, he shot him in the back."

Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty. Calabrese, 27, has been in the Kane County jail since May 24, 2005.

If Calabrese is convicted but does not receive the death penalty, he could be sentenced to 45 years in prison, plus another 25 for slaying someone with a handgun.

Defense attorney Paul DeLuca saidd authorities had no DNA, bullet casing or mask tying Calabrese to the scene. Police did not recover a gun.

The witnesses against Calabrese, DeLuca said, changed their stories several times, were high or drunk during the shooting, and had long criminal histories.

"What this case is about is a misidentification of Mr. Calabrese," said DeLuca, suggesting the parking lot at Fox View Apartments was a site of confusion after the shot was fired.

Carpentersville police officers Robert Drews and Carl Gonzalez testified they were making a traffic stop about 2:45 a.m., about one-quarter mile north of the complex on Oakcrest Drive, when they heard a gunshot. The were on the scene in about a minute.

Cedric Walker, a Chicago man who was friends with Edwards, said he was in the parking lot near the game, drinking beer and had smoked marijuana.

He testified Calabrese said he was going to rob the dice game, but everyone thought he was kidding until he returned and pulled a black revolver. Edwards began to walk away and was shot at close range by Calabrese, who then ran into the woods, Walker said.

"(Calabrese) said, 'Everybody give me your money,' " Walker said. "He lost. He was mad because he lost."

Walker has seven convictions ranging from resisting arrest and obstruction of justice to delivery of a controlled substance and aggravated fleeing and eluding. He acknowledged he didn't tell police what happened until he was arrested on a domestic violence warrant six days after the murder.

Angela Lewis, who lived in the complex at the time of the shooting, said Calabrese was angry he lost and returned later with a mask pulled over his mouth and nose.

"I saw (gun)fire come from his left hand," Lewis said.

Lewis later acknowledged she first told police she didn't see anything, and last Friday told investigators she was outside during the shooting and not in her kitchen.

Lewis said she was afraid she would lose her subsidized housing if she got in trouble and was reluctant to take the witness stand. "I was scared something would happen to me and my family," she said.

The jury trial is expected to conclude this week.