Brookside Glen Man Charged with Wife's Murder: Fit for Trial

A Will County judge ruled Thursday that Bahaa Sam is sane enough to stand trial for allegedly beating his wife to death with a weightlifter's bar.

Alleged Tinley Park Wife-Killer Bahaa Sam Found Fit to Stand Trial

A Will County judge ruled Thursday that Bahaa Sam is sane enough to stand trial for allegedly beating his wife to death with a weightlifter's bar.

A Tinley Park man charged with beating his wife to death with a metal bar while their young son watched was found sane enough to stand trial for her murder. Bahaa Sam, 47, appeared before Will County Judge Amy Bertani-Tomczak Thursday morning and learned an evaluation of his mental state showed he is fit to face the murder charges. READ: Tinley Park Man Charged With Beating Wife to Death Pleads Not Guilty An interpreter translated the proceedings into Arabic for Sam, who is being held at the Will County jail in lieu of $5 million bond. Sam was represented by Palos Park attorney John Eannace. Police and paramedics went to Sam's house in December after a Tinley Park public works employee spotted the body of Sam's wife, Nermeen Sam, next to a…

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Fitness Hearing Set For Jailed Former Lincoln-Way Central HS Teacher

If former Lincoln-Way Central High School teacher Ryan Gardner is found to have been insane when he allegedly threatened district officials, he will be found not guilty.

A date was set to determine whether former Lincoln-Way Central High School teacher Ryan Gardner was insane when he allegedly threatened district officials. Gardner, 41, has been jailed since Jan. 16. Before that, he was receiving psychiatric treatment at University of Illinois Hospital in Chicago. Gardner's attorney, Alexander Beck, said at a previous hearing that Gardner's mental state improved while he was at the hospital but has since "deteriorated." Gardner's fitness hearing was set for May 17. Beck has been trying to prove that Gardner was legally insane when he allegedly made a Dec. 6 telephone call to Lincoln-Way School District Deputy Superintendent Thomas Eddy. About a week after the call to Eddy, the authorities in the Danville …

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Former L-Way Teacher in Threat Case Changes Mind on Talking in Court

Former Lincoln-Way Central teacher Ryan Gardner's mental state improved while he was in a Chicago hospital, but has deteriorated in the three and a half months he's been locked up in the county jail, said his lawyer.

Former Lincoln-Way Central High School teacher Ryan Gardner got his chance to talk in court Monday, but passed on it. Gardner, who has been jailed since January for allegedly threatening Lincoln-Way school district officials, still wanted to speak even after his attorney warned him that prosecutors could end up using his words against him. "That's fine," Gardner told his lawyer, Alexander Beck. "I've been doing a lot of research since I was in jail," Gardner said, "and I've read a lot of books." Will County Judge Edward Burmila asked Gardner why he wanted to address the court. "See, your honor, everything is pushed," Gardner replied. "Pushed, pushed back." Beck has been trying to prove that Gardner was legally insane when he allegedly made…

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Man Convicted of Threatening SA Glasgow Unfit to Face Fresh Charges

Jason Chance, who served time in prison for threatening Will County State's Attorney James Glasgow, was found unfit to answer new allegations of threatening Silver Cross Hospital and other officials.

A downstate man already convicted of threatening Will County State's Attorney James Glasgow on Facebook was found unfit to face new charges of menacing public officials. Jason Chance, 40, was returned to jail after a Monday morning court hearing but will be transferred to a facility run by the Illinois Department of Human Services. Chance has already taken a two-year prison sentence for making threats against Glasgow in 2010. According to a criminal complaint, Chance made a Facebook post "containing a threat to rape and kill James Glasgow." Chance was also charged with "cyberstalking" Glasgow. On top of the prison sentence, Chance was also hit with 30 months of probation with special conditions. Chance allegedly violated that probation by …

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Jail Making it Tough For Lawyer on Murder-For-Hire Rap to Move Case

A reduced visitation schedule at the county jail has slowed things down for the attorneys representing a Frankfort lawyer charged with trying to put a hit on his wife.

A reduction in visiting hours at the Will County jail has slowed things down for the attorneys representing a Frankfort lawyer charged with trying to put a hit on his wife. "It's a little hard to get in there right now," attorney Steve Whitmore told Judge Daniel Rozak during a Wednesday morning hearing. Whitmore said he needs to interview witnesses locked up in the jail in order to prepare for the defense of Robert Gold-Smith, a 50-year-old lawyer charged with asking a fellow inmate at the county jail to kill his wife. According to court papers, Gold-Smith discussed paying for the murder of his wife with at least five inmates during his time in the county jail. Gold-Smith ended up in jail with the men he allegedly talked to about killing …

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Court Supervision: 11 Days in Jail For Sex With 16-Year-Old Boy

A former Plainfield North gym teacher pleaded guilty to meeting a teen for sex. And that was just one of the things going on in court this week.

More than two years after the police caught her in a car with a half-dressed student from the high school where she was a teacher, Ashley Blumenshine copped a plea. Blumenshine, a 30-year-old former Plainfield North gym teacher, will have to do 11 days in jail. She will also spend two years on sex offender probation and 10 yeas on the Illinois sex offender registry. She tearfully apologized before she was taken into custody to start doing her time. Let's look at what else was going on in the area's courthouses this past week: Check out all these stories and more on our Facebook page.

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Former L-Way Teacher Jailed on Threat Charge to Get Sanity Hearing

A psychiatric evaluation of a former Lincoln-Way Central teacher charged with threatening district officials will be available for his hearing on whether he is fit to stand trial.

A Will County judge scheduled a fitness hearing for a former Lincoln-Way Central High School teacher charged with threatening school district officials. Judge Edward Burmila set an April 29 date for arguments on whether jailed former teacher Ryan Gardner, 41, was legally sane when he allegedly made threatening statements. Gardner, most recently a resident of downstate Danville, has been jailed since Jan. 16 on a felony charge of making a telephone threat. Prior to his being processed at the Will County jail, Gardner was receiving psychiatric care at University of Illinois Hospital in Chicago. He had checked himself into the hospital voluntarily. Gardner was hit with the felony charge after he allegedly made a Dec. 6 telephone call to …

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Trial Date Set For Soldier Charged in 2009 New Lenox Township Murder

A man facing murder charges in connection with his uncle's death can act as his own attorney when he goes to trial.

A man charged with murdering his uncle more than three and a half years ago got a July trial date during a Friday morning hearing. And when 27-year-old Jason Gonzalez does go to trial, he can act as his own attorney. Gonzalez, who was stationed in Guantanamo Bay during his eight months in the Army in 2005 and 2006, has been representing himself during pretrial matters and plans to continue to do so at his trial. Judge Edward Burmila said a public defender will still be present during the trial, as one has been at pretrial hearings. Gonzalez has been jailed since September 2009 on charges he murdered his uncle Lance Goebel. Gonzalez allegedly shot Goebel numerous times with a 9-mm handgun, then stole $1,000 and his uncle's Chevy HHR. The …

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Court Supervision: Not The Pedro Hernandez You Were Looking For

A New Lenox man spoke of his "horrific" ordeal in the county jail after he was arrested for a murder someone else was wanted for.

We started the week off by talking with the New Lenox man jailed for two weeks for a murder allegedly committed by someone else with the same name. Pedro Hernandez, 67, said his time in the Will County jail was "horrific," and that he's looking for a lawyer to talk to about filing a lawsuit. But Hernandez's ordeal was just one of the things going on last week. There was also: Check out all these stories and more on our Facebook page.

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