A Cook County circuit judge Wednesday refused to admit into evidence phone records that purportedly show a relationship between three men charged with murder in the 1988 killing of Dana Rinaldi.
Judge Janice Bierman ruled that the phone records of defendants Joseph Rinaldi, 33, the woman’s husband, of Oak Forest; Chicago firefighter Michael Permanian, 32, of Chicago; and Ronald Kliner, 32, of Des Plaines were obtained improperly and used by police investigators while a grand jury was investigating possible charges against the three.
All three defendants pleaded innocent and were in Cook County jail awaiting trial.
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Bierman made the ruling, which was a blow to prosecutors preparing for trial against the three men, in response to defense pretrial motions.
Meanwhile, during another pretrial hearing in the case, prosecutors and defense attorneys revealed that Kliner had made comments to his uncle, a Chicago police officer, allegedly about Dana Rinaldi’s killing.
Kliner’s attorney, George Patrick Lynch, sought unsuccessfully to prevent the uncle, John Apel, from testifying during the upcoming trial.
The uncle testified Wednesday that he told investigators in the case about his conversation with Kliner.
Dana Rinaldi, 28, was killed outside her Palatine Township home on Feb. 18, 1988.