More than three decades after the cold-blooded murders of a north suburban couple, Jennifer Bishop-Jenkins said Friday she hoped it would be the last time she has to go to court to attend a hearing for the man who killed her sister.
She fears it won’t be, even as a Cook County judge ruled that David Biro — convicted of murdering Bishop-Jenkins’ sister and husband in 1990 at their Winnetka home — won’t get a new sentencing hearing on his conviction for killing the couple’s unborn child.
“I’m just hopeful that someday we’ll have legal finality, because it’s been [32] years since their murder and this decision should be the last time I should ever have to come to court ... to make sure Mr. Biro stays in prison,” Bishop-Jenkins said after the ruling at a press conference.
Her son, Max, held photos of his murdered aunt and uncle, Nancy and Richard Langert, during the press conference, along with a photo of his now deceased grandparents — Nancy’s parents — in an effort to convey the impact of the murders years later.
“The hardest part for murder victims’ family members is that you get re-traumatized every time that you have to go back and relive what happened,” added Bishop-Jenkins.
Biro was a 16-year-old junior at New Trier High School in April 1990 when he broke into the Langerts’ north suburban townhome, waited for them to come home from dinner and shot them.
Richard Langert was handcuffed and executed by Biro. Nancy, who was pregnant, was shot in the chest and abdomen.
Biro was convicted by a jury the following year and given mandatory life sentences on two counts of first-degree murder. The judge also ruled that Biro’s conviction for intentional homicide of an unborn child was merged with the murder convictions.
After a state appellate ruling instructed that judge to resentence Biro separately on the intentional homicide charge in the unborn child’s death, the judge gave him a separate discretionary life sentence in 1995.
A 2012 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that said mandatory life sentences for juveniles violated the constitution later led the Illinois Supreme Court to grant new sentencing hearings for any juveniles previously given such sentences.
Biro’s defense attorney, Thomas Brandstrader, said Friday that Biro was still awaiting resentencing on the mandatory life sentences, but declined to comment further.
Biro — who has made multiple attempts previously to get his discretionary life sentence reconsidered — said that he should also be given a new sentencing hearing on the intentional homicide charge, arguing that the judge who sentenced him had not taken into account his age or potential for rehabilitation.
On Friday, Brosnahan said she believed Judge Sharp had properly made those considerations and sided with prosecutors to dismiss Biro’s petition.
Biro declined to attend the hearing Friday and his appearance was waived by his attorney.
Now 48, he is currently serving his sentences at the Pontiac Correctional Center, according to state records.
