A 19-year-old transient pleaded guilty Monday and was sentenced to life in prison without parole for the Sept. 28 slaying of a Lindenhurst woman.
In a move that enabled him to avoid the death penalty, William T. Conner entered a plea admitting he fatally beat and stabbed Gertrude Eichner, 62, in her home.
Conner pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree murder and was sentenced by Lake County Circuit Judge Barbara Gilleran-Johnson five days before his trial was scheduled to begin.
Eichner was stabbed 66 times and clubbed in the head in a murder so violent it prompted Lake County State’s Atty. Michael Waller to seek the death penalty for the first time since 1994.
On Monday, Waller said he accepted the plea agreement based on recent discussions with the defendant’s attorney, as well as with Eichner’s daughter. Conner’s lawyer, Ted Potkonjak, couldn’t be reached for comment.
“The conclusion we came to is that it is a good result and brings closure for the daughter of the victim,” Waller said. “Life without parole is a hard sentence and a good one for the circumstances.
“It was a very savage and brutal murder,” he said.
Waller said Conner apologized for the crime in court on Monday after he pleaded guilty.
Eichner, a longtime Lindenhurst resident, lived alone on the 100 block of Rose Tree Lane following the death of her husband. Her slaying was the first homicide in the quiet town in more than two decades.
Conner had been described by authorities as a troubled teenager who was homeless and living in a nearby forest preserve. They said he killed the woman because he wanted to steal her gray Oldsmobile.
In the early morning hours of Sept. 28, police said, Conner broke into Eichner’s home by kicking down the back door and awakening her.
She apparently struggled with Conner in the kitchen, but was clubbed in the head with a gallon of white paint, a potted plant and a portable stereo, authorities said.
The blows to her head were so hard that the paint can burst and was dented, according to the coroner’s office.
Eichner was also stabbed and cut in the neck and face with a pair of scissors and two steak knives, police said.
Her body was dragged up the staircase of her modest split-level home and left there, authorities said.
Shortly after the murder, police arrested Conner, who was hiding under the porch of a nearby home.
At the time of his arrest, Conner was wanted on an aggravated battery warrant in connection with a fight in Antioch two months before the murder.
Police believe Conner broke into Eichner’s home in search of car keys, possibly with the intent to flee the state to avoid arrest on the battery charge.
The aggravated battery charge against Conner was dismissed Monday, Waller said.
Conner was living in a makeshift shelter in McDonald Woods Forest Preserve, not far from Eichner’s home, at the time of the murder, authorities said. They said Conner had lived with friends in Round Lake Beach before ending up in the forest preserve.
According to court records, Conner was previously convicted for stealing a car in Lindenhurst. He also had a lengthy juvenile record, authorities said.
