A Joliet police officer told a Will County jury Wednesday that he tricked a suspect involved in the 1979 stabbing death of an elderly man into confessing her role in the crime by hinting that scientific evidence could place her at the scene.
Detective Robert Brenczewski said Karla Jones admitted details of the crime after he fooled her into thinking that hairs in a barrette found at the scene could be matched to her through DNA testing.
Jones, 35, of Joliet, and Dontalyon Jimerson, are both charged with the murder of Herman Kuntz, 71, who was stabbed to death on Aug. 20, 1979. Jones and Jimerson are being tried separately.
On Wednesday, the first day of Jones’ trial, Brenczewski said he told Jones DNA testing could place her in the house. But he added, “I didn’t know it was possible with what we had.”
Under cross-examination by defense lawyer Frank Andreano, Brenczewski said he never asked Jones for a hair sample after mentioning that DNA testing could put her in the house.
DNA, deoxyribonucleic acid, is the genetic building block that makes each individual different. In recent years, law enforcement agencies have increased their use of DNA matching in a variety of cases from paternity suits to murder investigations.
It was after DNA testing was mentioned, Brenczewski said, that Jones, who had previously denied any knowledge of the crime, began to talk. Jones said Kuntz was killed by Jimerson during a burglary attempt.
According to Brenczewski, Jones alleged that Kuntz had engaged her for sex a number of times and that Jimerson asked Jones to keep Kuntz “busy” upstairs in his house while Jimerson ransacked the first floor.
Jones told Brenczewski and Sgt. Robert Kelly that Kuntz heard a noise and went downstairs to investigate. It was then, Jones claimed, that Jimerson stabbed Kuntz with a kitchen knife.
Brenczewski said Jones then “got scared and ran out of the house.”
Jones said she and Jimerson returned to the house, and the two were able to move a large safe that was in the bedroom closet into Jimerson’s car. That safe was allegedly put in a shed on Jimerson’s property.
When Kuntz failed to show up for dinner at a daughter’s house the next day, the daughter asked neighbors to investigate. It was then that the fully-clothed body of Kuntz was discovered next to a first floor closet.
Although Jones and Jimerson were suspects almost from the start, Brenczewski said there was not enough evidence available to make an arrest.
Although the Kuntz home had been ransacked, police had little evidence. A kitchen knife was found in a furnace grate by members of Kuntz’s family a week after the slaying, but there were no fingerprints. The barrette found in the kitchen was one of the few items police believed had been left by the assailants.
Jones, who was identified by witnesses at the scene, was questioned shortly after the murder but denied any knowledge of the crime. Shortly afterward, Brenczewski said the woman left the area, but when she returned early last year, the questioning began again.
Jones also told police that Jimerson had moved to Los Angeles, where he was arrested early last year and extradited to Illinois.
If convicted, Jones faces a minimum 20-year prison term. The trial is expected to end within a week. Jimerson is scheduled to go on trial Feb. 28.
