‘This nightmare continues,’ family of Edwardsville attorney Randy Gori tells his killer

The death of Randy Gori has left his friends and family with immense emotional, mental, and physical anguish, his survivors told his murderer and a Madison County judge Friday.

Timothy Banowetz, a 30-year-old former Missouri college student, was sentenced to 70 years in prison for the murder of Gori, a prominent Edwardsville attorney and philanthropist, and two counts of armed robbery against Gori’s teenage children.

It was the maximum possible sentence, and Banowetz must serve at least 65 of those years. At the earliest, Banowetz will be 93 years old when he’s released.

The three family members who addressed the court Friday advocated for the maximum sentence. Several of Gori’s friends and family members in attendance burst into tears when the sentence was read.

Gori’s wife, Beth Gori, gave a written statement that was read out loud by a family friend before Judge Kyle Napp.

“The PTSD will most likely follow (our children) throughout their lives,” she said. “No one should have to live in fear that way. We’ve all three undergone intensive therapy to help us through this horrific event.

“I do not know how long that therapy will continue, but this nightmare continues every day of our lives.”

Beth Gori characterized her husband as a trusting man who helped everyone he ever met.

Judy Gori, Randy Gori’s mother, has been hospitalized for much of the nearly two years since her son’s murder, her husband Lee Gori said in his statement. Judy Gori was not in attendance. After her son’s death, she’s struggled with depression, dehydration, loss of appetite, trouble sleeping, and mental stability, according to her husband.

Laura Perkins Moore, Judy Gori’s sister and Randy Gori’s aunt, told those assembled in Napp’s courtroom that her sister “forever lost her soul” when her son was murdered.

“He gave so much to everyone he knew, personally and professionally,” Lee Gori said. “ … (Banowetz) should be offered no leniency.”

In addition to Gori’s wife, father, and aunt, two family friends submitted victim impact statements that were given to Napp, but not shared with the courtroom.

As the family was leaving the Justice Center, Perkins Moore said she didn’t think hearing about the sentencing would help her sister heal.

“She’s going up and down mountains,” Perkins Moore said of how her sister had been handling meetings and updates about Gori’s murder case.

Banowetz makes another surprise change

Shortly before opening arguments were set to begin in his trial on Oct. 5, Banowetz accepted a deal from Madison County and changed his plea to guilty. The jury hadn’t been seated yet.

The moments before his sentencing hearing Friday were similarly dramatic. While reporters, sheriff’s deputies, and friends and family of Gori settled into the courtroom, Banowetz told his court-appointed attorney he did not want her to represent him anymore, and that he would be representing himself.

Judge Napp asked Banowetz about his educational background and whether he had any legal experience; he didn’t. She asked if he was under the influence of any substances or had been threatened or intimidated into rejecting professional counsel; he told her he was making a conscious choice.

Napp advised him that there was a lot on the line and a lot at risk for him, but allowed him to represent himself.

Initially, Banowetz tried to retract his guilty plea and claimed that he had never been provided with the documents from the pre-sentencing investigation, which both the judge and the public defender disputed.

“I’m not going to let you play games,” Napp told Banowetz, citing previous refusals to cooperate during the investigation.

After that, Banowetz did not object to any evidence submitted by the prosecution and offered no mitigating evidence of his own. Several times, Judge Napp had to say that Banowetz was shaking his head for the record because he didn’t actually speak.

At the end of the hearing, Napp asked Banowetz if he had anything else to say.

“It really doesn’t matter,” he replied. “You’re going to give me the maximum.”

In a press conference after the hearing, Madison County State’s Attorney Tom Haine said Banowetz showed “absolutely no remorse,” and characterized him as a “delusional, violent narcissist.”

Haine said Banowetz’s decision to represent himself was a terrible idea. Even if he were being represented by an attorney, though, Haine said he believed Banowetz would have received the maximum possible punishment anyway.

But Banowetz didn’t do himself any favors, and painted himself into a corner if he were to try to appeal his sentencing, Haine said.

“There is an appeals process, and that process will play out, but in this case, when you plead guilty to a crime, that does reduce your appeal options,” Haine said. “You can argue fewer problems with the process — the trial didn’t take place, and you admitted that you did it. Similarly for the sentencing hearing today, when you represent yourself, when you put on no evidence of mitigation, the judge warns you that it’s a bad idea, again, that limits the appeal options you have.”

Ultimately, Haine said his hope was that the Gori family was able to mourn in peace, without media scrutiny.

“There’s a lot of interest in this case, which is reasonable, it was a terrible case,” he said. “But the Gori family should be allowed to rest. … (Banowetz) is a man who should go into obscurity now.”

The case against Banowetz

Police found Gori dead in his rural home northeast of Edwardsville while responding to a 911 call around 9 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 4, 2020. The following Monday, former Madison County State’s Attorney Tom Gibbons announced that Banowetz was being charged with first-degree murder, armed robbery, aggravated unlawful restraint and an offense related to vehicle theft.

Banowetz ambushed Gori and his two minor children, binding their hands behind their backs with zip-ties before using a knife to stab Gori, according to evidence submitted by the prosecutors. He then stole cash and two cellphones before fleeing in Gori’s Rolls-Royce.

Surveillance footage from outside Gori’s home captured when Banowetz first ambushed the family just outside of their home. As the footage played in a nearly-silent courtroom, Banowetz kept his eyes on the video of himself.

Perhaps the most disturbing evidence investigators collected was was a handwritten list reportedly in Banowetz’s possession when he was apprehended on the morning of Jan. 5, 2020, near Gori’s home in rural Edwardsville.

According to the prosecutors, the list read, “Watch with binoculars from woods, use gun and knife to subdue, zip-tie hands and Duct-tape mouth, have withdraw $4 to $6 million from bank, kill all of them and take zip ties and Duct tape off, burn bodies and house.”

A search of Banowetz’s computer also showed that he had viewed photos of Gori and his children on social media on several occasions, that he searched Google Maps for directions to Gori’s home, and that he Googled the question, “What does a million dollars look like.”

Banowetz also was carrying more than $4,000 in cash stolen from Gori’s kitchen and wearing clothes stained with Gori’s blood, prosecutors said.

Authorities believe Banowetz was homeless at the time of his arrest. He had been attending pharmacy school in St. Louis and was in debt, prosecutors said.