Another survivor testifies in Darien triple-murder trial
Another survivor of a triple-murder in Darien testified Wednesday about hearing his mother scream as an intruder went room to room shooting members of his family.
It was “a scream I'd never heard before in my life — a loud scream,” Anthony Kramer told jurors on the second day of testimony in the Johnny Borizov trial.
Borizov, 31, of Willow Springs, is accused of enlisting Jacob Nodarse to break in and kill the Kramer family as they slept early March 2, 2010.
DuPage County prosecutors allege the scheme was fueled by a bitter child-custody dispute between Borizov and Kramer's sister, Angela, who says Borizov isolated her and threatened her family.
On the night of the murders, Kramer was in his basement bedroom when he woke up about 3 a.m. to a “loud noise” and the screams of his younger brother, Michael.
“I heard my brother say, 'Oh my God,' and then I heard a gunshot go off,” he testified.
He said then heard his father, Jeffrey Kramer, cry out, followed by more gunfire and the screams of his mother, Lori. Then there were more gunshots.
Kramer ran to the rear of the basement and hid next to a pool table while repeatedly trying to call 911. He said his cellphone had no reception.
“I was listening for the door to open to see if the intruder was going to come for me next,” he said. “I didn't know who was still alive.”
There was only one set of stairs out of the lower level of the house, but Kramer said he managed to escape through a window in a second basement bedroom.
Jurors saw evidence of the carnage left behind in police photos and a video of the crime scene, which showed Michael Kramer, 20, shot dead in the family kitchen.
Jeffrey Kramer was lying on his right side in a pool of blood in a first-floor foyer area. Lori Kramer was slumped on a stairway landing with bullet holes visible in the wall behind her.
Police said they recovered 11 shell casings from the scene.
Jurors also heard a 911 call made by Borizov about four hours after the slayings. On the recording, he tells a police dispatcher he wants to speak with an officer.
“I just saw the news and I think my girlfriend's house got shot up,” Borizov says.
The defendant was in tears when Willow Springs police officer Bobby Sims arrived at his door a short time later. The emotional display “seemed to be a little over the top,” Sims testified.
“He told me he had seen a news report on television and thought his son's mother was dead,” Sims said. “He said he was in a custody battle with her and he had to return his son the next day.”
Several Darien officers soon showed up, and Borizov agreed to go to the police station.
Two detectives testified he repeatedly asked whether the mother of his child was dead and made unsolicited statements about having been at a casino all night.
“He said he knew three people were murdered and he had absolutely nothing to do with it,” Darien Detective Mark Bozek told jurors.
The testimony came a day after Angela Kramer described how she hid in a closet and called 911 for help as the killing spree unfolded. Her brother Michael's girlfriend escaped through an attached garage and hid next to a neighbor's house until police arrived.
Nodarse, 26, formerly of Countryside, pleaded guilty but mentally ill to murder in 2011 and is set to testify against Borizov, whose trial resumes Thursday.
The defense maintains Nodarse is a mentally ill drug abuser who acted alone.