Third trial in murder of restaurant owner mirrors second trial
The third murder trial of Kenneth E. Smith, who is accused of gunning down a McHenry burrito restaurant owner in March 2001, began much like the second one, when a key state witness denied any involvement of him and Smith in the slaying.
“I’m tired of lying, The truth has to come out sooner or later,” testified Justin Houghtaling Thursday at the Woodstock courthouse.
Houghtaling, 30, of Round Lake, cut a deal with prosecutors to testify against Smith in the murder of Raul Briseno, a 35-year-old father of two, in exchange for a minimum sentence of first-degree murder of 20 years. In the 2008 trial, Houghtaling testified that he and Smith went to rob the restaurant, and Smith shot Briseno. But on cross examination, he said he was being forced to lie for the state.
Briseno was shot and killed March 6, 2001, as he and a co-worker chased two would-be robbers out of the Burrito Express restaurant off Route 120 in McHenry.
Prosecutors say Smith, 36, and Houghtaling, both wearing ski masks, went to rob the place and Smith, formerly of Park City, had a gun.
Briseno grabbed a larger butcher knife and chased the two away, but Houghtaling slipped and fell on some ice. Briseno and a co-worker grabbed Houghtaling in the parking lot, but Smith came back firing the gun, hitting and killing Briseno, prosecutors argued.
Smith was convicted in June 2003 and again August 2008, but an appellate court overturned both verdicts and Smith’s subsequent 67-year sentences.
Thursday, Houghtaling again denied that he, Smith or Jennifer McMullan, who was Smith’s girlfriend at the time, ever went to Burrito Express that night. Houghtaling said he and a group of friends drove to Wisconsin to borrow a laptop computer, then briefly visited a tobacco shop before going to another friend’s house near the restaurant.
Houghtaling — who also pleaded guilty to perjury in 2009 and was sentenced to five years — said he was only 19, was high on drugs and scared when he confessed to police in May 2001 to his involvement in the killing.
Houghtaling said he pleaded guilty in November 2001 because he wanted to avoid the maximum sentence of 60 years for first-degree murder.
“Sixty years is a long time. It didn’t seem feasible for me to do 60 years. I figured (plead out) and take 20 years and hopefully I’d still have some of my life to spend when I got out,” he said.
Michael Combs, the lead prosecutor in the case, showed the jury that Houghtaling changed his story by reading transcripts from Houghtaling’s initial confession and McMullan’s trial in 2002, where she was found guilty and sentenced to 27 years as the getaway driver.
“(Smith) armed himself and went out and attempted to take money from Raul Briseno and Raul wouldn’t give it up,” Combs said in his opening argument.
Defense attorney Gregory Boyle argued that Houghtaling’s testimony was not only “unreliable,” but there was no DNA, fingerprints or gun to tie Smith to the scene.
Boyle also argued that another three people — including one he said gave a videotaped confession — were responsible for the murder.
The trial before Judge Sharon Prather is expected to extend through next week.