Jury tapped in Hanover Park murder trial

A DuPage County jury was empaneled Tuesday in the trial of a Crystal Lake man accused of the slaying of a former co-worker in Hanover Park.

Ronald O'Rourke, 47, is charged with first-degree murder, home invasion and residential burglary.

Prosecutors are not seeking the death penalty if O'Rourke is convicted.

O'Rourke is accused of stabbing Pamela Sue Howat, 51, early June 6, 2009, after she interrupted him burglarizing her home near County Farm Road and Lawrence Avenue in Hanover Park.

A friend later discovered Howat's body, lying in the first-floor utility room, where authorities said the fatal confrontation took place, with as many as 10 stab wounds about her neck and head. The murder weapon - a pair of gardening shears - was found near her body.

Howat likely surprised her attacker after arriving home from the Bartlett Fresh Market, where she was last seen alive about 9:30 a.m., according to court records. Some of the grocery bags remained in her car.

O'Rourke, a former truck driver, immediately became a suspect. Prosecutors said Howat had complained to her son and a friend that she suspected O'Rourke, a former co-worker whom she met in late 2005 and briefly dated, was stealing from her.

O'Rourke confessed in a videotaped interview to killing Howat but said it was in self-defense after she came at him with the shears, authorities said. Besides the incriminating statements, authorities also have phone records showing O'Rourke called Howat's house at 7:43 a.m. the day of the murder.

O'Rourke, formerly of the 200 block of Evergreen in Crystal Lake, is being held in the DuPage County jail without bond.

His trial, before DuPage Circuit Judge Kathryn Creswell, is expected to last until next week. Opening statements begin this morning in Wheaton.

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<ul class="links">

<li><a href="/story/?id=304143">Man indicted in Hanover Park slaying of former co-worker <span class="date">[7/1/09]</span></a></li>

<li><a href="/story/?id=299388">Prosecutor: Former co-worker killed Hanover Pk. woman during burglary <span class="date">[6/9/09]</span></a></li>

<li><a href="/story/?id=299329">Arrest made in Hanover Park woman's slaying <span class="date">[6/9/09]</span></a></li>

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