Two men were found guilty Saturday night in the murder of a Highland Park man, who was beaten to death in a 2022 fight along the Lake Michigan shoreline.
A Lake County jury returned guilty verdicts against Nicholas Caban and Jacob Firestone for second-degree murder in the death of Matthew Ascardis, who was 45 when he was killed. Caban, who was 20 at the time of the death, and Firestone, who was 19, said they acted in self-defense.
“While we are very satisfied that these two offenders have been found guilty of second-degree murder, we continue to grieve with Matt’s entire family for their devastating loss,” State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart said Saturday night.
“Our office charged this case after the Major Crimes Task Force and coroner’s forensic pathologist uncovered conclusive evidence that Matt was killed due to excessive violence from these two offenders,” Rinehart said. “We are so thankful that the jury closely followed the forensic and circumstantial evidence in order to see the truth and to convict both offenders on all counts.”
The verdict was read at about 7:30 p.m., about five hours after attorneys finished more than three hours of closing arguments in a rare weekend session.
On the night he died on Sept. 17, 2022, Ascaridis had come from his home near the beach at the Fort Sheridan Forest Preserve carrying a heavy metal flashlight to seek out Caban and Firestone, who were on the closed beach, playing with an electric hydrofoil.
Ascaridis had called police twice to report noise complaints on the beach and was told a forest preserve ranger was en route, though he was still perhaps 45 minutes away, according to testimony. Darci Ascaridis, the victim’s wife, testified Tuesday that her husband had been shining a flashlight from a window and yelling that the beach was closed after hearing noise from the shore.
What sparked the fight is not known definitively. Neither defendant testified. Someone walking on the beach found Ascaridis’ body partially in the lake at around 5 a.m., about four hours after Ascaridis had walked down to the beach from his house.
Defense attorneys played up the vaguer aspects of the fight, saying it amounted to reasonable doubt.
“Wouldn’t it be great if there was a video?” attorney Barry Sheppard, who represented Caban, told jurors. “Because we don’t know what happened … moment by moment in this fight.”
Attorney Jed Stone, Firestone’s counsel, urged jurors not to “guess” their way to a guilty verdict.
Caban had scalp wounds and Firestone required brain surgery because, Stone said, Ascaridis used his flashlight as a weapon.
“A man with a weapon attacked these boys, and they defended themselves,” Stone said.
But prosecutors said Ascaridis suffered more than three dozen injuries, including a fractured vertebra, that indicated he suffered a brutal beating.
Almost four hours after the fight, Caban called the police to report the incident. The prosecutors said the long lag showed consciousness of guilt. Caban and Firestone left the beach after the fight, but returned at some point to retrieve a wheelbarrow they had left behind.
Ascaridis’ extensive head injuries, prosecutors said, demonstrated that at some point, Caban and Firestone no longer needed to defend themselves.
“You do not get to be in a fight, and then when you gain the upper hand, you finish the person off,” Assistant State’s Attorney Ben Dillon told jurors.
The trial began on April 13 with jury selection, with four days of testimony before the Saturday conclusion before Judge James Booras.
