Eric Farrell always said he never knew the revolver he pointed at his wife, Rheanna, was loaded.
And after he shot her once in the abdomen, Farrell, 21, made a frantic call to Crest Hill police, telling them what had happened while desperately trying to revive her.
Rheanna Farrell, 19, died of that gunshot on March 18. Eric was charged with involuntary manslaughter.
But after further investigation revealed the couple’s violent history, the charge was upgraded to murder.
“Your relationship with the victim was a road map leading to this end result,” Will County Judge Rodney Lechwar told Farrell in court Monday during his sentencing hearing.
To the dismay of Rheanna’s family, Lechwar sentenced Farrell to 9 years in prison on a lesser charge of aggravated discharge of a firearm. The charge carries a maximum 15-year prison term. Murder carries a minimum 20-year prison term.
“There may be an angel on your shoulder,” Lechwar told Farrell before the sentence. “You have walked out of here much easier than you could have.”
The sentence was part of a plea bargain between prosecutors and Farrell’s lawyer, Richard Orloff. In exchange for his guilty plea, the state dropped the murder charge.
While praising the efforts of the Will County state’s attorney’s office, Rheanna Farrell’s mother, Nina Criswell, said she would rather have seen the case go to trial.
“He’ll be out in 4 1/2 years. Whose daughter will he do this to next? Whose sister? Whose niece?” Criswell said.
Rheanna Farrell’s family does not believe the shooting was an accident. Nor do they believe Eric is remorseful for anyone but himself.
But Assistant State’s Atty. Ray Nash said it might have been impossible to prove Farrell intended to kill his wife.
“It’s not what we believe that counts, but what we can prove in a courtroom that counts,” he said.
The plea agreement, which includes the provision that Farrell waive all rights to appeal, ends a tortuous tale of a young woman trapped in the clutches of a volatile young man.
Six times Rheanna Farrell filed complaints with the Crest Hill police; twice he was arrested. Many other calls came from neighbors witnessing violent bouts between the couple.
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In July 1993, he hit her 10 times with his fists and tried to choke her after she threw a bottle at him because he allegedly kissed another woman. He later pleaded guilty and received one year of court supervision.
In September, Farrell was charged with misdemeanor battery but his wife eventually dropped the charges.
On Oct. 20, according to statements presented to Lechwar Monday, Farrell shot an arrow from a crossbow in her direction. That’s when Rheanna Farrell turned to the courts for help.
On that same day, she was granted a 14-day order of protection after writing in a court report that Farrell had taken her to a field and told her that “there are dead people there” and she could be one of them. Five days later they were married.
“She just kept going back to him,” Matter said. “She loved him but was afraid of him at the same time. It was a sick relationship.”