People v. Gibons

• Citation: 500 N.E.2d 517,149 Ill.App.3d 37
• Decision Date: 24 October 1986
• Docket Number: No. 83-2694,83-2694
• Parties: , 102 Ill.Dec. 624 The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Jacqueline GIBONS and Barry Wilson, Defendants-Appellants.
• Court: United States Appellate Court of Illinois

Page 517

500 N.E.2d 517

149 Ill.App.3d 37, 102 Ill.Dec. 624

The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Jacqueline GIBONS and Barry Wilson, Defendants-Appellants.

No. 83-2694.

Appellate Court of Illinois First District, Fifth Division.

Oct. 24, 1986.

Steven Clark, Deputy Defender, Martin Carlson, Asst. Appellate Defender, Office of the State Appellate Defender, Chicago, for defendant-appellant, Gibons.

Peter C. Rolewicz, Chicago, for defendant-appellant, Wilson.

Richard M. Daley, State's Atty., Cook County (Joan S. Cherry, Thomas V. Gainer, Jr., Mary E. Shields, Asst. State's Attys., of counsel), for plaintiff-appellee.

Justice MURRAY delivered the opinion of the court:

Following a joint jury trial, defendants Jacqueline Gibons, Barry Wilson and Robert St. Pierre were found guilty of the murders of Benjamin and Sybil Gibons, defendant Gibons' adoptive parents, two counts of conspiracy to commit murder, two counts of armed robbery and two counts of concealment of a homicidal death. (Ill.Rev.Stat.1983, ch. 38, pars. 9-1(a)(1), (2), (3), 8-2(a), 18-2(a), 9-3.1(a).) Gibons and Wilson were sentenced to natural life imprisonment for the murders, two extended terms of 60 years, to be served consecutively, for the armed robberies of the victims, two concurrent terms of 7 years for conspiracy to commit murder and two concurrent terms of 5 years for concealment of the homicidal deaths of the victims. St. Pierre was sentenced to death; the court entered judgments but no sentences on the other counts. St. Pierre is not a party to this appeal.

On appeal, Gibons contends that: (1) the trial court erred in denying her petition for severance, in violation of her rights to a fair trial, to confront witnesses against her and to present evidence in her defense; (2) the State failed to prove her guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of the armed robbery of Sybil Gibons; (3) the "death qualification" of prospective jurors during voire dire resulted in a biased jury favoring the prosecution, in violation of her right to an impartial jury representing a fair cross-section of the community; and (4) the court erred in imposing extended terms of 60 years for armed robbery. Wilson contends that: (1) the trial court erred in denying his motion for severance, in violation of his right to a fair trial; (2) the court improperly permitted the State to introduce evidence concerning a burglary of the Gibons' residence; (3) the State failed to prove him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of the armed robberies of both victims; and (4) his sentences were excessive. Both defendants also contend that the the court erred in sentencing them for the inchoate offense of conspiracy to commit murder. For the reasons set forth below, we reverse Gibons' and Wilson's convictions and remand their cases for new, and separate, trials.

The record reveals that on July 29, 1982, Benjamin and Sybil Gibons, both approximately 62 years of age, were murdered in their home in Skokie, Illinois. On August 10, 1982, their bodies were found in a remote area of Albuquerque, New Mexico. Both had been beaten to death and the tip of one of Mrs. Gibons' fingers appeared to have been cut off.

Testimony at trial disclosed that on July 27, 1982, Detective Greg McLaughlin of the Skokie police department was assigned to investigate a burglary of the Gibons' residence. During his conversation with the Gibons, McLaughlin learned that defendant Gibons had told her parents that Wilson telephoned her earlier that day, told her he had fallen through a window of the house and that Gibons should "clean up the mess" before her parents discovered it. When Mr. Gibons later failed to appear before a judge the next day concerning the complaint he had signed, McLaughlin placed a call to the Gibons' residence on July 29, defendant Gibons answered and she told him her father was not at home. McLaughlin called again on July 31 and received the same response from Gibons.

On August 2, Harriet Metrick, Mrs. Gibons' sister, called the police because she had been told by the senior Gibons' employers that they had not shown up for work. Police officers and Ms. Metrick went to the Gibons' home and entered the house when no one answered the doorbell. Detective McLaughlin arrived shortly thereafter. He found holes cut in the living room carpet and sofa, cleaning fluids and bloodsoaked rags and towels scattered about, blood splattered throughout the kitchen, living room and master bedroom and a large hole broken through the wall between the bedroom closet and the garage. Mr. Gibons' wallet was discovered in the kitchen with a traffic ticket in it describing a 1982 Buick automobile. A belt was found in the bedroom with St. Pierre's name and prison number on it. Further inspection of the garage revealed garbage bags containing bloodstained carpeting, gloves, clothing, and a hammer covered with masonry dust. The automobile was not in the garage, nor were the Gibons on the premises.

McLaughlin further testified he went to the police station to make out a report, then unsuccessfully tried to locate Wilson and Craig Rawlins, a friend of Wilson's. On August 3, McLaughlin met with Gibons; she had been brought to the police station at her own request. At that time, Gibons told McLaughlin how her parents had been killed, implicated Wilson and St. Pierre, ¹ told McLaughlin that Wilson was in Los Angeles, California with Craig Rawlins, and gave him St. Pierre's address.

Gibons further related, in a formal written statement, that six months prior to the murders Wilson "started hinting" that he was "really thinking of killing her parents" and that he later told her he had bought sleeping pills and a gun with a silencer. During that time, Gibons stated there was never any discussion about her paying Wilson to kill her parents and that she did not think he was serious "until it really happened." On July 28, Wilson called Gibons, she told him her parents were considering pressing charges against him, and he told her he needed some money because her parents were "going down" that evening. The conversation ended when Gibons told Wilson she did not have any money and that she would have to get it the next day. On July 29, Wilson came to Gibons' office, they met with St. Pierre in an alley, and Wilson told her St. Pierre would kill her parents for $300. Although she stated she was in shock and thought that "it was just a game," she agreed to pay St. Pierre. Wilson then told Gibons to open the door of her home later that evening and St. Pierre "would come and do it," and he would "come a little later." At approximately 6 p.m., St. Pierre arrived at the Gibons' home, Gibons and her father admitted him, she went into the living room, and St. Pierre, having picked up a hammer which was lying on a chair in the hallway, followed Mr. Gibons into the kitchen where he killed him by beating him to death with the hammer. Gibons stated that after she heard the "hammering," she opened the front door and Wilson came in. He and St. Pierre wrapped Mr. Gibons' body in a blanket and placed it in the master bedroom. Prior to placing the body in the bedroom, Wilson came into the bedroom and gave Gibons her father's wallet from which she took all of his credit cards.

Thereafter, at approximately 7 p.m., Detective McLaughlin called to speak to Gibons' parents and she told him they were not at home. Mrs. Gibons called 10 minutes later and asked defendant Gibons to pick her up from the train station. Instead of doing so immediately, the defendants drove to a hardware store where Wilson purchased some plastic bags, a roll of tape and sheets of plastic which he said were for tieing up Mrs. Gibons' body. When they returned to the Gibons' house, Mrs. Gibons again called to ask defendant Gibons to pick her up. Gibons then left to pick up her mother from the train station. After meeting her, defendant Gibons suggested they go for a drive before going home, her mother declined and Gibons drove home. When Mrs. Gibons entered the house, St. Pierre attacked her with the a hammer and beat her to death. Wilson and St. Pierre then wrapped her body in a blanket and plastic and placed it in the bedroom. After they cleaned up the house, Wilson drove Gibons and St. Pierre to a hotel, left them there and drove away. During the drive, St. Pierre stated that "he did it [the murders] for them" and "they should thank him." Gibons responded that she agreed with him.

The next day defendants returned to the house, Wilson and St. Pierre knocked a hole through the wall of the bedroom to the garage, Gibons helped them push the victims' bodies through the hole, and Wilson and St. Pierre placed them in the trunk of the victims' car. Defendants then drove off in the car. After dropping St. Pierre off at his home, Wilson and Gibons drove around for awhile and discussed "how crazy St. Pierre was" and the fact that Mrs. Gibons' finger had been sliced "because of the ring and who did it." At one point, Wilson stopped at a hotel and showed the bodies to some "black dude." He dropped Gibons off downtown around midnight and told her he was going to take the bodies to Arkansas to be buried by his cousin.

On August 3, Assistant State's Attorney James Lieberman took a statement from St. Pierre. St. Pierre stated that he met Wilson in mid-July 1982. Toward the end of July Wilson told him he had a job for him, that Gibons wanted her parents killed and that St. Pierre would get $1,000 to $10,000 if he killed them. After this conversation, they went to the Gibons' home and Wilson broke in through a window. They were "suppose to get money," but Wilson only came out of the house with some food. On July 29, he met with Wilson and Gibons in an alley. Wilson told Gibons that St. Pierre wanted her to tell him that she wanted her parents killed, and Gibons nodded and said, "Yes." They then planned "how they would do it," Wilson and Gibons doing most of the...