Dec 6, 2007 9:30 am US/Central
Death Penalty Sought In Burger King Murder
James Ealy Charged In Murder Of Lindenhurst Burger King Manager Last Year
-
-
James Ealy is charged with the brutal murder last year of Burger King manager Mary Hutchison in north suburban Lindenhurst
CBS
-
-
Mary Hutchison of Trevor, Wis. was found dead Monday morning of blunt trauma and stab wounds in the Lindenhurst Burger King she managed.
CBS
-
-
The Lindenhurst Burger King where the shooting happened. It has since shut down.
CBS
Slightly more than one year after the manager of a Burger King in far north suburban Lindenhurst was brutally killed in a robbery, prosecutors Wednesday announced they would seek the death penalty against James Ealy, the man charged with the murder.
Jeffrey Pavletic, chief deputy of the criminal division in the Lake County state's attorney's office, handed documentation for "electing" the death penalty to Judge Fred Foreman and Keith Grant, chief of the felony trial division in the public defender's office. There was no discussion of the election.
Ealy, 43, of Lake Villa, stood quietly by, wearing jail blue attire and chains.
Foreman set the next status date for Feb. 15. The paperwork indicates the death penalty is being sought because the murder occurred during the course of another felony, a robbery.
When Burger King workers arrived early on Nov. 27, 2006, they found the body of Mary Hutchison, 45, of Trevor, Wis., on the floor, near an open safe with $1,000 missing. Ealy had previously worked at the restaurant, on Grand Avenue and Munn Road, and had kept a key after he quit. Hutchinson had gone to work early to do inventory.
Hutchinson had been stabbed, and strangled with a bow tie from a Burger King uniform.
Hutchinson had transferred from the Antioch Burger King, after she had been injured during an armed robbery, losing hearing in one ear from a beating.
The Burger King has since closed, due to a drop-off in business following the killing.
Ealy had been convicted in Chicago in 1982 of murdering a pregnant woman and her three children. In that incident, the mother's 3-year-old son had also been raped. Ealy, then 17, had been dating the woman's 15-year-old daughter. Ealy was acquitted when the appellate court determined that the police evidence search had been illegal because they lacked probable cause.
Burger King had not gotten a criminal background check on Ealy, which would have cost $13. They would have found a felony background record, aside from the Chicago quad murders, of armed robbery, aggravated unlawful restraint, and illegal possession of a firearm.
cbs2chicago.com's Most Popular Pages 
Slideshow: This Week In Celebrity History Slideshow: The Search For Stacy Peterson Slideshow: Extravagant Celebrity Gifts Slideshow: '90s TV Stars Then & Now Slideshow: What A Way To Go Slideshow: In To Be Out: Gay Celebrities Slideshow: Did You Know? Stars From Chicago!
Click to enlarge
Click to enlarge
Click to enlarge
Stumble It!
