Guilty verdict in 2013 murder of Elgin artist

This update corrects an earlier story that identified David Holzinger as Koziol-Ellis' brother, not brother-in-law.

A jury deliberated for about two hours to find Paul A. Johnson guilty of breaking into his new neighbor's Elgin townhouse in March 2013 and stabbing her to death.

Johnson faces between 20 and 100 years in prison when sentenced Aug. 10 for the murder of Lisa Koziol-Ellis, 33, who was stabbed more than 50 times in the botched burglary.

Johnson's lawyer unsuccessfully argued that his half brother committed the murder, and Johnson, out of loyalty, helped clean the crime scene and dump evidence.

Friends and relatives of Koziol-Ellis held hands as the verdict was read and one woman let out a sigh of relief. Johnson hung his head and held his forehead with his left hand.

David Holzinger, Koziol-Ellis' brother-in-law who spoke on behalf of the family, thanked prosecutors, Elgin police and first responders, saying and the investigation was "nothing short of phenomenal."

"We are incredibly happy that the verdict was what we hoped it would be," Holzinger said. "Justice for Lisa has finally been served."

In his closing argument Tuesday morning, Kane County Assistant State's Attorney Bill Engerman told jurors Johnson thought no one was home that night.

"He pries his way in there and he's surprised because Lisa's there," Engerman said. "This wasn't a fight. This was a brutal attack. She was just putting up her arms in defense."

During the seven-day trial, prosecutors placed Johnson, a 36-year-old with a long felony record, at the scene by showing his DNA in blood found on the inside of Koziol-Ellis' front door, and through bloody shoe prints forensic experts said were consistent with the gym shoes worn by Johnson that night.

Prosecutors don't have a murder weapon, but said Johnson lied to police and others about what he did that night, incessantly searched news media sites for information about the killing, and inquired on Google about how long it took police to process DNA and fingerprint evidence.

Engerman said Johnson's bloody shoe prints were in the hallway because he attacked Koziol-Ellis with a Flathead screwdriver and later went to the kitchen to get a knife to continue the attack. Johnson didn't have much time to clean up the scene, so he cracked the door open and splashed bleach on her body.

"He's trying to destroy what's on her," Engerman said. "He didn't have time to do a thorough job, so he couldn't go back in and get rid of those (shoe) prints that were in that hallway."

Finally, prosecutors say Johnson vowed to "turn himself in" on a secret recording made by Johnson's half-brother, Harry Dobrowolski, if Dobrowolski was charged with murder.

"(Johnson's) going to turn himself in because he committed the murder," Engerman said.

Johnson testified in his own defense, saying Dobrowolski, who died of a drug overdose in May 2014, killed Koziol-Ellis and Johnson only helped clean the crime scene with rags and bleach.

Assistant Public Defender Julia Yetter argued police did their due diligence in following leads and eliminating Koziol-Ellis' husband, Dash Ellis, as a suspect.

But as community pressure grew and leads went nowhere, police developed tunnel vision for Johnson after Dobrowolski agreed to wear the wire, Yetter argued.

Dobrowolski told police what they wanted to hear to save himself, Yetter said.

"Self preservation, it was easy," Yetter told jurors. "(Dobrowolski) didn't have to spend time thinking of a lie. He knew Paul was there. All he had to do was tell them that Paul did what he did."

Johnson has been held at the Kane County jail on $5 million bail since his arrest in March 2013. His bond was revoked upon conviction.