UPDATE: Johnny Borizov found guilty
Jurors on Tuesday afternoon began their deliberations in a case against a man accused of orchestrating the murders of three members of a southwest suburban Darien family.
Johnn Borizov was involved in a bitter custody dispute with his girlfriend, Angela Kramer, when Kramer's mother, father and brother were shot dead in their home in 2010.
Though Borizov wasn't the actual gunman, prosecutors allege he was behind the murders.
The case is the first Chicago-area trial to allow cameras in court during testimony. After two weeks, Borizov decided not to take the stand in his own defense.
He is accused of persuading Jacob Nodarse to kill Kramer's family during an early morning break-in at the family's home in March 2010. Angela Kramer and another family member escaped the slayings, but Kramer's brother, Mike Kramer, and parents, Jeffrey Kramer and Lori Kramar, were shot and killed.
Nodarse was arrested in Florida a day after the murders and pleaded guilty in 2011 to the death of Jeffrey Kramer as part of a plea deal and charges for the other two murders were dropped. Nodarse agreed to testify against Borizov as part of the deal.
"[Borizov] would try to manipulate this guy, Jake, by telling him, 'Yeah, I've got this crew of guys. They work for me. They do stuff. They kill people. They sell drugs for me. We can get things done. You're OK. You're with us,'" prosecutor Joe Ruggiero told the court.
During opening statements, defense attorney Paul DeLuca said the evidence would show Nodarse acted alone, fueled by drug abuse and mental illness.
"He went there with his own hammer. He went there with his own gun. He went there with his own cocktail of drugs ... mixed in with alcohol. And he went there with his own demons, his own fears, his own psychotic thoughts, his own paranoia," DeLuca said.
