Flood-delayed triple-murder trial to open Tuesday in DuPage County
A triple-murder trial that was delayed last week because of flooding is slated to open Tuesday in DuPage County.
Jurors are scheduled to hear opening statements in the Johnny Borizov case about 9:30 a.m. The trial had been expected to start Thursday but was postponed when massive flooding shut down the county campus in Wheaton.
In court Friday, attorneys in the high-profile case picked the last of three alternate jurors who will hear testimony, the state’s attorney’s office said. As many as 100 witnesses could be called throughout the trial, which could last about a month.
The proceedings are poised to be the first in the Chicago area to be covered by the news media with video and still cameras inside court. Judge Daniel Guerin has barred courtroom photography of 10 witnesses, the jury and some evidence exhibits, including autopsy photos and a police video from the crime scene.
Borizov, 31, of Willow Springs, is accused of persuading Jacob Nodarse to fatally shoot Jeffrey and Lori Kramer and their adult son Michael inside the family’s Darien home in March 2010.
Authorities allege Borizov “hated” the Kramer family and wanted them slain because of a bitter child-custody dispute with his ex-girlfriend, Jeffrey and Lori Kramer’s daughter Angela, who survived the killing spree and is expected to take the stand.
Nodarse, 26, formerly of Countryside, has an extensive history of severe mental illness, according to court documents. In 2011, he pleaded guilty but mentally ill to murder and has agreed to testify.
Borizov is being held without bond and faces charges of first-degree murder and solicitation of murder. He maintains he is innocent.
Also Tuesday, the trial of former Harper College wrestler Kerin Ramirez, of Addison, is expected to resume in DuPage. Ramirez is accused of invading the Carol Stream-area home of an off-duty police officer, who shot Ramirez during an altercation. That trial also was delayed last week because of flooding.