The public will get its first look at the mountain of evidence against the Highland Park massacre suspect on Monday as his father goes to trial on reckless conduct charges.
The trial may be a preview of the case against massacre suspect Robert Crimo III.
If the son takes a plea deal, the trial may be the public’s only look into the evidence against him.
Prosecutors say they will call 10 witnesses and read transcripts from the son’s police interrogation in the trial against his father, Robert Crimo Jr.
Prosecutors say they will show just a fraction of the 10,000 pages of evidence they’ve collected in the cases.
Crimo Jr. faces seven counts of reckless conduct for signing his son’s gun ownership permit when he was too young. Prosecutors say he signed those papers despite knowing the son had expressed suicidal and violent thoughts.
Prosecutors first need to prove Crimo III committed the July 4 massacre — then prove his father knew about the son’s unstable mindset before signing the gun ownership card in 2019, when his son was 19.
The judge presiding over the bench trial said this week the father’s alleged recklessness depends on three things: “What kind of information did the father know, when did he know it,” and what would a reasonable person have done in the same situation?
Prosecutors had asked to play video of the police’s 7 1/2-hour interrogation of Crimo III, in which he allegedly admits to the shooting.
But Judge George Strickland is allowing them to only read a transcript of it.
That ruling came Friday after Crimo III’s defense attorney said playing video may influence any potential jurors in the son’s criminal case.
Crimo III’s defense attorney Gregory Ticsay wanted the judge to prevent even a transcript from being read aloud in court. But Strickland said that was unreasonable and akin to introducing “secret evidence.”
Prosecutors also plan to:
- show text messages between father and son where the father allegedly called his son “irrational.”
- call a therapist of Crimo III’s younger brother who had called police to the family’s house twice in 2019 after allegedly hearing concerning thoughts.
- call a Christian camp counselor who allegedly heard Crimo III make concerning comments about mass shootings when the boy was a freshman in high school. The counselor called the boy’s father, who allegedly tried to minimize the boy’s comments.
- call a detective who interviewed the son and to show autopsies of victims.
The case, brought by Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart, may set a precedent for other prosecutors seeking to hold parents responsible for the crimes of their children. Charges are rarely filed against parents of mass shooters.
The trial may be done midweek, Rinehart said in court Friday, but it’s unclear when the judge will issue a ruling. Strickland said it would not be immediate.
