$500 Bet Led to Murder: Prosecutors

A $500 bet cost a man his life almost 30 years ago, according to Lake County prosecutors. 

 

Robert Bostic, 71, is charged with killing Carlton Richmond at “The Wheelman,” a motorcycle club where Bostic had membership, in Round Lake Beach June 25, 1982, according to the Sun-Times.

 

Bostic drank a fifth of Jack Daniels in one swig expecting Richmond to give him $500. The 31-year-old man didn’t have the cash. That upset Bostic enough to shoot Richmond, prosecutors said Tuesday before jurors. 

 

Bostic didn’t face charges until January 2012 because no one at the club would cooperate with police.

 

The Sun-Times reports four people allegedly identified Bostic as the gunman, but some retracted their statements. Other evidence surfaced since Bostic has been in Lake County Jail. Prosecutors said recorded phone calls revealed Bostic tried to persuade some people to change what they told investigators.

 

“This defendant has reached out to friends and family to get them to change their story,” said Ken LaRue, assistant state’s attorney.

 

Jurors are expected to hear those conversations during the trial Wednesday.

 

Bostic defense attorneys insisted their client is innocent claiming no physical evidence exists to prove their client murdered anyone.