A Kane County jury will not have to decide whether an Aurora man on trial in the fatal shooting of his estranged wife is guilty, but instead is being asked to decide whether the killing qualifies as a “crime of passion.”
Donald Lorek, an attorney with the Kane County public defenders office, said Tuesday that Bernard Collins “has never denied” shooting Charolette Collins, his estranged wife, on the morning of Sept. 27, 2003, after a quarrel outside her Aurora apartment in the 1100 block of Kane Street.
“I have a firm belief that the evidence will show that Bernard acted with sudden and intense passion,” said Lorek in openings in the trial. Marital infidelity can be considered a factor contributing to such crimes, he said. Lorek hinted that Charolette Collins may have revealed she was having an affair the morning of the slaying.
Whether the jury deems the killing a crime of passion would dictate the terms of sentencing.
If convicted of first-degree murder, Collins faces a minimum of 20 years in prison without the possibility of parole. If the killing is deemed an act of passion and Collins is convicted of second-degree murder, he would face between 4 and 15 years, with time off for good behavior and early probation.
Testimony Tuesday painted a picture of a desperate man whose hopes at reconciliation with his wife of nine years were dwindling.
Assistant State’s Atty. Greg Sams produced telephone records for the morning of the killing that showed that starting about 4:30 a.m., Bernard Collins had tried to call his wife four times. But his wife would not take the calls, according to testimony by her friend, Carla Austin, 22, who lived with Charolette Collins’ family at the time. Bernard Collins also placed three phone calls to Mike Gardner, the man Charolette Collins allegedly was dating, according to Gardner’s mother, Edna.
By 9:40 a.m., Bernard Collins was pounding on a window at his wife’s apartment and demanding to be let inside, according to the defendant’s stepson, Marcus McGill, 19, of Aurora. But instead, Charolette Collins went outside to speak to him. McGill and Austin both said the couple quarreled loudly for about 15 to 20 minutes.
Witnesses testified they heard five or six gunshots followed by the sound of crying; when they went to investigate, they recognized Bernard Collins as he walked away from the area.
McGill said Collins appeared angry and upset as he pushed past him. The stepson, who ran toward his bleeding mother, said he saw a .38 revolver in Collins’ hand.
Collins was arrested a few minutes after the shooting.
Charolette Collins, 38, died during emergency surgery.
