Friday, Oct. 23, 2009

Weber says Mudge should have fought harder in pastor killer's case

EDWARDSVILLE -- Former judge and Madison County prosecutor Don Weber has written a letter criticizing State's Attorney Bill Mudge's handling of the Terry Sedlacek case, saying Mudge should have fought a psychologist's finding that the accused killer of a church pastor is mentally unfit to stand trial.

A spokesman for Mudge said he had no comment on Weber's letter and that Mudge stands by his original statement issued Tuesday.

Weber said the finding that Sedlacek is mentally unfit could have been defeated on grounds that his actions were premeditated. Sedlacek marked March 8, the day of the killing, as "death day" in a day planner found in his bedroom.

"He planned 'death day' for Sunday, when he knew Pastor (Fred) Winters would be tending to his congregation at his church in Maryville," Weber said. "He went to the church, not to movies or on a picnic, to shoot his victim with a gun. He chose a gun with bullets, not a banana or a coconut as his weapon. He picked out the exact person he wanted to kill from a crowd of about 1,000 people."

Madison County Circuit Judge Richard Tognarelli ruled Tuesday that Sedlacek is mentally unfit to stand trial. He based his ruling on a report from court-appointed psychologist Robert Heilbronner's examination of Sedlacek.

Both prosecutors and defense attorneys agreed the psychologist would testify that Sedlacek is schizophrenic and probably wouldn't be able to understand the legal proceedings or assist in his own defense.

Mudge stated Tuesday: "We reviewed the report prepared by the court-appointed psychologist dated Oct. 15, 2009. The psychologist opines that the defendant is unfit to stand trial for a variety of reasons and also advises that the defendant is mentally ill. Accordingly, the defendant is being committed to the Illinois Department of Human Services for treatment."

Mudge's statement added: "If he responds to treatment and is subsequently found fit to stand trial, the people of the state of Illinois stand ready to prosecute this case and seek justice for the victims, their families, the congregation at First Baptist Church of Maryville and the citizens of this state."

Sedlacek, 27, is accused of fatally shooting Winters, the pastor of First Baptist Church in Maryville. Weber said he attends services there and was on his way to 11 a.m. services when he learned of the shooting at the early service.

Sedlacek has no known connection to the church or to Winters. His attorneys have said Sedlacek's mental health declined after he contracted Lyme disease from a tick bite several years ago.

His attorneys, Ron Slemer and Madison County Public Defender John Rekowski, filed a motion in July asking for the mental examination. They argued that Sedlacek has "visual and auditory hallucinations," speaks in a code and is bipolar and schizophrenic.

Tognarelli ordered that Sedlacek be placed in the custody of the state Department of Human Services. Within 30 days, the agency will give the judge a report on whether Sedlacek is likely to become fit to stand trial within a year.

Weber said Mudge should have had its own expert psychologist examine Sedlacek.

"In my experience, these malicious and malingering defendants are quite able to miraculously recover their senses once the game is afoot and the trial for their own life begins," he said. "They know insanity is their only defense and they try to, and often do, fool the psychologist. I am sure there are dozens of prosecution expert psychologists who would reach a different conclusion as to Sedlacek's fitness for trial or culpability for his dastardly crime."

He added, "Presenting no prosecution expert witness but simply surrendering this case without a fight may fit in with Mudge's current ambitions, but it does not comport with a search for justice for Pastor Winters or his family or congregation.

Weber also criticized Mudge for not seeking the death penalty in the Sedlacek case, and ended his statement by offering to prosecute Sedlacek himself.

"If the current state's attorney does not have the time or the stomach for this prosecution, I volunteer," Weber said. "If you can't find anyone on your current staff (you do have some good people) to vigorously prosecute this murderer, I will do it -- for free. Because the congregation's faith in 'the conviction that truth will prevail' and justice for Pastor Winters require a different result than the one we just got."

Mudge has announced plans to run for a judgeship in 2010. Weber served as state's attorney from 1980 to 1984 and worked several years as an assistant state's attorney. When asked Thursday whether he plans to run again for state's attorney, Weber said it's "entirely inappropriate to inject politics into this tragic situation. I am speaking out because I think the state's attorneys office has not pursued this very important case aggressively and I am extremely disappointed, as a citizen, with the way this has been handled."