Jacquelyn Greco

People

• Jacquelyn Greco (also known as Jackie; formerly Jacquelyn Gaimari) — defendant; 69 at the time of trial; arrested in 2013 after detectives in the newly established Inverness Police Department began reviewing the cold case file in the murder of Carl Gaimari; dressed in a blue jail scrubs during sentencing; gray shoulder-length hair styled in curls; stoic as the judge read the sentence; public defenders said she broke down when she was brought back to a holding cell at the Rolling Meadows branch courthouse.
• Sam Greco — former Chicago police officer and Jacquelyn Greco’s then-lover; later married; expected to be called to testify on Jacquelyn Greco’s behalf; lives on the Northwest Side and was described as being in poor health; not charged in connection with Gaimari’s death.
• Carl Gaimari — victim; 34-year-old commodities trader at the Chicago Board of Trade; shot to death in the basement of his Inverness home; estate valued at $623,535 at the time of his death (not including the Inverness home); body was found in the basement after the family was freed by another child arriving home from school.
• Leemarie Bonk — Carl Gaimari’s sister; asked for the maximum sentence.
• Becky Wykel (also spelled Wyckel in other parts of the record) — one of Carl Gaimari’s children; testified she found her father’s body in the basement of the family home in Inverness; said the murder damaged her for life.
• Elsie Fry — Jacquelyn Greco’s sister; testified for the prosecution; had police-recorded phone conversations with Greco.
• James Sances — Elsie Fry’s son-in-law; testified Greco asked in 1978 if he knew of a drug that could cause a heart attack.
• Jane Keenan — Carl Gaimari’s niece; said “We always knew she did it.”
• Michael Gaimari — Carl Gaimari’s brother; said he was “ecstatic” upon hearing police had made an arrest; described Carl as a “top-notch speculator” and a natural athlete.
• John Gaimari — Carl Gaimari’s brother; called the trial “surreal.”
• Steve Klemen — former co-owner of Pacific Trading Company where Carl Gaimari worked as an independent trader; testified Greco came to the office before 9:30 a.m. May 1, 1979, asking about Carl Gaimari’s financial accounts and seeking money for expenses.
• Howard Cohen — Gaimari’s attorney; testified Carl Gaimari’s estate totaled $623,535 at the time of his death (not including the Inverness home).
• Detective William Stutzman — prosecution witness; testified about reinterviews and evidence condition.
• Dr. Ponni Arunkumar — Cook County medical examiner; testified using notes from the original autopsy performed in 1979 by the now-deceased Dr. Robert Stein.
• Dr. Robert Stein — performed the original autopsy in 1979 (described as now-deceased).
• Ethan Holland — Cook County prosecutor.
• Maria McCarthy — prosecutor during closing arguments.
• Caroline Glennon — assistant public defender.
• Julie Koehler — Cook County assistant public defender who cross-examined Becky Wyckel/Becky Wykel.
• Jill Cerone Marisie — Cook County Judge Jill Cerone Marisie; ordered Greco held without bond.
• Judge Marc Martin — the Cook County judge who sentenced Greco.
• Sally Daly — Cook County state's attorney spokeswoman.
• Barbara Vitello — named as author of multiple articles.
• Barbara Vitello — (listed as name repeated in multiple places as byline; no case-specific role established beyond authorship in the record).

Timeline

• April 30, 1979 — Carl Gaimari was found shot to death in the basement of his Inverness home; family members were tied up in a closet during a staged home invasion and robbery described by prosecutors; Becky Wyckel/Becky Wykel returned from school about 2:40 p.m. and found her mother locked in a closet and her siblings tied up in the closet; Carl’s body was later found in the basement.
• 1979 — Carl Gaimari’s death occurred during this year; Greco’s trial involved first-degree murder in the context of 1979 statutes.
• February 1979 — Jacquelyn Greco told her sister Elsie Fry, “we found out a way to kill Carl.”
• March 1981 — Elsie Fry told her daughter about Jacquelyn Greco’s statements.
• In 1981 — Barrington police investigated Fry’s claims; testimony referred to Fry reporting to police that Greco told her “we found out a way to kill Carl.”
• 1986 — evidence had been damaged by floods in 1986 (police evidence stored in the basement of the Barrington police department).
• 1990 — Jacquelyn Greco and Sam Greco divorced.
• February 14, 2013 — authorities obtained a recording in which Greco, talking to Elsie Fry, appeared to implicate herself in her husband’s murder; Greco’s recorded conversations included her repeated claims “I didn’t do it,” and discussion of a plan and threats.
• 2013 — Greco was arrested after Inverness police and prosecutors recorded a recent phone conversation in which prosecutors said Greco told someone she had had a plan to kill the victim; Greco appeared in Rolling Meadows bond court and was held without bond.
• 2011 — case went cold until 2011, when a pair of Inverness detectives began delving into Gaimari’s murder.
• 2009 — Inverness established its own police force, changing jurisdiction details mentioned as Barrington police had jurisdiction until 2009.
• 2012 — testimony stated that police received permission to record the defendant’s phone conversations in 2012, and that Detective Stutzman and his partner reinterviewed Fry in 2012 and asked if she would be willing to record her conversations with Greco.
• May 1, 1979 — Steve Klemen testified Greco came to the Pacific Trading Company office before 9:30 a.m. May 1, 1979, asking about her husband’s financial accounts and seeking money for expenses.
• December 29, 2016 — Judge Marc Martin sentenced Jacquelyn Greco to 30 years in prison.
• October 2016 — Greco was convicted by a jury in October of first-degree murder.
• November 1, 2016 — article dated Nov. 1, 2016 discussed the verdict and sentencing schedule.
• October 26, 2016 — article dated Oct. 26, 2016 described Becky Wyckel/Becky Wykel’s testimony.
• October 25, 2016 — article dated Oct. 25, 2016 discussed Elsie Fry’s testimony and recorded conversations.
• October 27, 2016 — article dated Oct. 27, 2016 discussed evidence condition and medical testimony.
• May 8, 2013 — article dated May 8, 2013 described Greco being charged and held without bond and details of the investigation.
• Monday (during trial week) — jurors determined Greco knew of the plot to kill her husband and to stage it to look like a home invasion and burglary; jury found her guilty of first-degree murder after about two hours of deliberations.

The offence

Prosecutors said Jacquelyn Greco and her then-lover, former Chicago police officer Sam Greco, arranged Carl Gaimari’s murder, which prosecutors described as appearing to be a home invasion and robbery gone wrong. Authorities said two masked intruders pushed their way into the family home on Turkey Trail Road in broad daylight, tied up Jacquelyn and three of her children in a closet, and waited for Gaimari to return from work before shooting him. Carl Gaimari was shot to death in the basement of the couple’s ranch home in Inverness.

According to testimony described in the record:

• Two masked intruders entered through a door that was described as unlocked.
• The intruders tied up Jacquelyn Greco and her children, who were ages 2, 5 and 13, and ransacked the home.
• When Gaimari returned from his job at the Chicago Board of Trade, the gunmen shot him six times in the chest.
• The two men were never identified and were not charged.

Background

Jacquelyn Greco, formerly Jacquelyn Gaimari, was arrested in 2013 after detectives in the newly established Inverness Police Department began reviewing the cold case file in the murder of Carl Gaimari. The record described the case as having gone cold until 2011 when investigators began delving into the murder. The record also described that Barrington police had jurisdiction over Inverness until the village established its own police department in 2009. Witnesses had passed away and evidence had been stored and damaged over time.

During the period after the murder, Greco moved her boyfriend, Sam Greco, into the Inverness home within days, and they were married later that year. The record stated the couple moved to California a short time after the murder, later returned to Illinois in 1987, invested in a bar on Chicago’s Northwest Side, and divorced in 1990. The record stated Jacquelyn Greco eventually moved to Crystal Falls, Mich.

The record also included a statement that Greco’s team did not call any witnesses in her defense, but submitted letters from friends and family members.

Investigation

The record described police evidence being damaged:

• Detective William Stutzman testified evidence stored in the basement of the Barrington police department was damaged by floods in 1986 and 1990.
• What survived came to investigators in two large garbage bags.
• Forensic scientists at the Illinois State Police crime lab were unable to obtain a DNA profile from cigarettes recovered from the Gaimari home.
• The crime lab report indicated some bullets recovered could have been fired from one of two handguns Gaimari owned, both of which were near his body.
• Other bullets were unidentifiable.
• The gunmen had not been found.

The record described reinterviews:

• Stutzman and his partner reinterviewed witnesses, including Greco’s sister Elsie Fry.
• In 1981, Fry reported to police that Greco told her “we found out a way to kill Carl.”
• Stutzman and his partner reinterviewed Fry in 2012 and asked if she would be willing to record her conversations with Greco.
• On Feb. 14, 2013, authorities obtained a recording in which Greco, talking to Fry, appeared to implicate herself in her husband’s murder.

Arrest and charges

On May 8, 2013, the record stated that more than 34 years after intruders shot Carl Gaimari to death during a home invasion on April 30, 1979, authorities charged Jacquelyn Greco with his murder. Greco, described as 66 at the time of a May 8, 2013 appearance, appeared in Rolling Meadows bond court. Judge Jill Cerone Marisie ordered her held without bond.

The record described the investigation’s continuing nature:

• Cook County state's attorney spokeswoman Sally Daly said the investigation into the identity of the shooters continues.
• The record later stated that the investigation into Gaimari’s murder remains open.

Trial

Greco’s trial began Tuesday in Rolling Meadows (the record did not state a specific start date). Prosecutors portrayed Greco as a coldhearted schemer who went along with a plan to get rid of her husband because she wanted to marry Sam Greco. Prosecutors said she did not want to divorce Gaimari because she feared she would be left with no money. The record said she had hired Sam Greco as a private investigator to look into her husband’s suspected affairs.

Prosecution witnesses and evidence

The record described Becky Wyckel/Becky Wykel’s testimony:

• She returned from school about 2:40 p.m. April 30, 1979 and noticed something amiss.
• She noticed open drawers and cabinets.
• She started down the stairs to the basement and found her father sitting on a couch.
• She heard her mother calling from the master bedroom.
• She found Jacquelyn Greco locked in a closet, with her hands tied, along with her siblings tied up in the closet (ages 13, 5 and 2).
• Jacquelyn Greco asked, “Where's your father?”
• She testified her 13-year-old sister found her father had been shot six times in the chest.
• Under cross examination by Julie Koehler, Becky Wyckel repeatedly stated she could not recall what she said to police at the time and she admitted she has little contact with Greco.

The record described Elsie Fry’s testimony and recorded conversations:

• Fry testified that Jacquelyn Greco made the statement “we found out a way to kill Carl” two months before Carl Gaimari was found shot to death.
• Fry said she kept silent about the conversation until March 1981 when she told her daughter about Jackie's statements.
• The record included defense questioning of Fry’s motives, with assistant public defender Julie Koehler saying, "A lot of this information ... it didn't appear in 1979, in 1980. It appeared in 1981 when Sam (Greco) and Jackie sued Elsie over $7,000 she owed them,"
• The record said prosecutors played two tearful conversations recorded Feb. 14, 2013.
• The record included verbatim quoted statements from Fry and Greco during the recordings:
  • "They have it on record and I have to tell the truth," Fry said.
  • "Oh my God ... don't tell them I said that," Greco responds.
  • "I didn't do it," she claims repeatedly.
  • "I know," said Fry, "but you told me how it was going to be done."
  • Later, Greco urges her sister to "tell them you were confused and don't remember."
  • Fry responds that she would not lie.
  • During a 24-minute recording Greco expresses fear of going to jail and threatens to kill herself before she does.
  • In a second, shorter conversation, Greco asks Fry if she remembers Greco telling Sam Greco "not to do it."
  • The women discuss abuse Greco said she endured at Gaimari’s hands, including an instance when he put a gun to her head and threatened to kill her.
  • "Your testimony is enough to put me away," said Greco on the recording.
  • "You're my sister but you're a witness against me ... That's enough to put me away. Not that I killed him, but I knew."
  • Prosecutors also included testimony that Fry recalled driving her sister to the hospital after Greco said her husband beat her.
• The record described Fry testifying she had been angry about a financial loan dispute, referenced by defense counsel.

The record described testimony from James Sances:

• Sances testified Greco asked him in 1978 if he knew of a drug that could cause a heart attack.
• The record included Sances’s quote: "She said, 'I would do that but I'd get nothing,'" Sances said.

The record described Steve Klemen’s testimony:

• Klemen described Carl Gaimari as an "average trader, not making great amounts of money."
• Klemen testified he did not allow Greco to access her husband's accounts because he was unsure if he could legally do so.
• The record said Greco came to the office before 9:30 a.m.

The record described Howard Cohen’s testimony:

• Cohen testified Carl Gaimari’s estate totaled $623,535 at the time of his death, not including the Inverness home.

The record described medical testimony:

• Dr. Ponni Arunkumar testified, using notes from the original autopsy performed in 1979 by Dr. Robert Stein, that Gaimari had gunshots to his heart, aorta, lung, intestines, liver and hand.

Defence position and arguments

The record said the defense did not offer any mitigation witnesses at sentencing and did not call witnesses in her defense during trial. It also described defense attempts to underscore what it said was scant evidence, including the lack of physical evidence tying the murder to Greco, and arguments about alternative explanations such as the back door being left open and intruders knowing where guns in the house were located.

The record included a defense quotation given to jurors:

• "We don't know who the other people are in this case," said Maria McCarthy, referring to the gunmen.
• "It's as though her finger was on the trigger for every shot," McCarthy said.
• Defense attorneys’ quoted response included: "You can listen to the (taped) conversations all day long. It doesn't prove anything," Cook County Assistant Public Defender Caroline Glennon told jurors.
• The defense also sought to emphasize there was no physical evidence tying the murder to Greco.

Sentencing

The record stated that during sentencing on December 29, 2016, Judge Marc Martin listened to a tearful plea from Greco and granted a small portion of the mercy she requested. The record included verbatim statements made by Greco:

• "I'm pleading with you for leniency," Jacquelyn Greco told Judge Marc Martin, weeping in front of a Rolling Meadows courtroom filled with witnesses and family members.
• "I loved my husband. My husband loved me".

After listening to Greco admit she participated in a plan to kill her husband, Judge Marc Martin sentenced her to 30 years in prison. Prosecutors had asked for the maximum 40 years under sentencing laws in effect in 1979.

The record included Judge Marc Martin’s verbatim statements:

• "The defendant's admission is significant and the court takes it as a begrudging statement of remorse,"
• "If the defendant had not made it, the sentence would be higher."
• He noted that the 69-year-old Greco could serve only 50 percent of the sentence under good-conduct rules.
• He said she was a "significant cog in the course of events that led to the murder" of Gaimari and that it had caused great harm to the couple's four minor children at the time.

The record included a verbatim statement from assistant public defender Caroline Glennon:

• She asked Martin for the minimum sentence of 20 years.

The record included verbatim comments by family members:

• After the lengthy hearing, Gaimari's sister Leemarie Bonk said she wanted the maximum sentence and said: "We were all devastated by this," and "The nightmare would have been over sooner if this trial had happened when Carl was killed."
• The record stated Becky Wykel testified that the murder damaged her for life and included her quoted statements:
  • "It was the worst day of my life,"
  • "Life went on as normal but it was never normal for me."

Appeals

The record stated that Greco’s public defenders said they will appeal.

Outcome

A jury convicted Jacquelyn Greco of first-degree murder. The record stated the jury deliberated for about two hours before finding her guilty. After sentencing, she received 30 years in prison on December 29, 2016.

The record included reactions after the verdict:

• Jane Keenan said: "I never thought this day would come," and "We always knew she did it. It's really sad how it affected the family all these years. Today is a good day for our family."
• Ethan Holland, the Cook County prosecutor, said: "Greco 'got away with it for 37 years.'"
• The record stated Mike Gaimari said he found the evidence against Greco "overwhelming" and said the family "always suspected" she was involved.
• John Gaimari called the trial "surreal."
• The record stated: "All we wanted was justice for Carl and his children."

Other details

• The record described that Greco’s daughter stayed home from school so she would have a witness to the home intrusion.
• The record described that Carl Gaimari’s last name was misspelled in an earlier online version.
• The record stated that Greco and Sam Greco moved to California a short time after the murder with her children, but they eventually returned to Chicago and for a time ran a bar on Chicago's Northwest Side.
• The record stated Sam Greco has not been charged in connection with Gaimari's death.
• The record stated Sam Greco was expected to be called to testify on Jacquelyn Greco’s behalf, but public defenders announced they would call no witnesses and rested their case.
• The record stated the intruders were armed and masked, and that no one else was charged in the case.
• The record stated the gunmen remain unidentified.