Experts say Marni Yang could not have killed romantic rival, unborn child in 2007

Defense experts told a Lake County judge Monday that convicted murderer Marni Yang could not have killed a 42-year-old pregnant woman authorities 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.

Prosecutors say jealousy prompted Yang, now 58, to murder Reuter.

But 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.

During earlier proceedings, defense attorney Jed Stone introduced crime scene evidence he argues exonerates Yang. It includes DNA from an unknown man on five unspent bullet shells found at the crime scene and a report stating the killer was taller than Yang.

Defense expert Dr. Cyril H. Wecht testified that he determined that blunt force injuries found on Reuter's face, including a blackened eye on her left side and abrasions around her lips and chin, occurred two to four days before her killing.

“These are not fresh injuries,” said Wecht, an attorney and forensic pathologist who has performed more than 21,000 autopsies.

He concurred with Borchers and a report by Larsen Forensics that Reuter would have had to have been shot by someone 5-foot-10 or taller for the bullet to have entered her body as it did.

“I do not believe Marni Yang, who was only 5-foot or so, could have inflicted that fatal gunshot wound,” Wecht said.

Lake County Judge Christopher Stride allowed Wecht's testimony over the objections of prosecutors, saying, “I will give it the weight I think it’s entitled to.”

Stone also played for the court a February, 2022 videotaped interview with Steven Wade, then 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.

Waden, who was accompanied by his lawyer, told a Lake County prosecutor and investigator, that Gayle “just didn't seem himself.”

Wade said he heard one of his co-workers say to Gayle “you need to get your (expletive) together.” Wade further stated he overheard something about a murder and the words: “It's over now. She’s gone.”

“Years go by and you’re sitting on this,” said the Lake County prosecutor who conducted the 2022 interview. “Why now?”

To which Wade replied, “no one ever asked me.”

The hearing, whose outcome could result in a new trial for Yang, is expected to continue through Wednesday.