Winters' Jury To Hear About Ties to Previous Killing

Prosecutors looking to fend off Raymond Winters' defense theory in the 1999 murder of Aldis Tucker will be allowed to tell jurors about Winters' connection to another killing that took place within weeks of Tucker's death.

Circuit Judge George Bakalis granted the request by Assistant State's Attorney Joseph Ruggiero during a Thursday hearing over the objection of Winters' attorney, assistant public defender Jaime Escuder, who argued the information is "incredibly prejudicial."

A mistrial was declared in December after jurors failed to reach a verdict on murder charges against Winters, who is accused of shooting Tucker to death outside a Wheaton apartment during a 1999 drug-related robbery.

Bakalis scheduled Winters' second trial to begin June 28. During the first trial, Escuder maintained Winters was merely present during the Tucker killing and didn't know what two associates, Menard McAfee and Kevin Mitchell, intended for Tucker.

Ruggiero previously characterized Winters and the men as something of a "murdering squad" that were involved in a series of gang-related killings in the 1990s. McAfee, already in prison on a murder conviction, claimed to be with Winters the night of Tucker's death, but recanted during Winters' first trial.

Ruggiero said several aspects of Tucker's murder are similar to the death of Darryl Green, who was abducted from a Broadview beeper store and shot in an Indiana field. Ruggiero pointed to the use of duct tape, walkie-talkies and a van in both murders. He said Winters isn't alleged to be the shooter in Green's death, but that he phoned in a ransom demand before Green was killed.

"The person on the ransom calls is Raymond Winters," Ruggiero said.

Escuder suggested the prosecutions link between the two cases was thin, primarily because it involves McAfee establishing the connection. McAfee has provided multiple versions of the Tucker shooting to police, prosecutors and Escuder, he said.

"All they are basically offering is the word of McAfee," Escuder offered, describing anything from McAfee as "useless."

Ruggiero disagreed, noting there are witnesses who will identify Winters as the voice on a ransom call to Green's brother and other evidence, including records that tie Winters to the "ransom" phone.

"All of the details of (Green's) murder ... are corroborated by the FBI," Ruggiero said.

Bakalis agreed to let prosecutors introduce the Green killing for the "limited purpose" of showing Winters knew what was happening, which would open the door for prosecutors to attack the notion Winters was unaware of the plan for Tucker.