The double-jury murder retrial of William Fillyaw and Johnny Parker ended last month with convictions against both men, but allegations of witness tampering in the case remain under investigation.
Meanwhile, one of the two men implicated in the alleged tampering contends prosecutors were simply unable to interpret his “black slang.”
Separate juries found Fillyaw, 37, and Parker, 31, guilty of first-degree murder for the fatal shooting of 28-year-old Lasondra Shaw during a violent home invasion after midnight June 29, 2007, in Shaw’s North Chicago apartment. They also were convicted of attempted murder related to the nonfatal shooting of two other people in the apartment.
In the midst of the mid-January trial, an unexpected twist was thrown in when authorities intercepted and recorded phone calls between Fillyaw, who was in the Lake County Jail, and community activist Ralph Peterson.
Prosecutors played recordings of the calls in court, and asserted that Fillyaw and Peterson were discussing ways to influence the testimony of a witness in the case.
“I consider witness tampering as something we take very seriously, and we are continuing to investigate,” Lake County State’s Attorney Michael Nerheim said Wednesday.
Peterson vehemently denied that Wednesday.
The men used vague language during the recorded conversation, which prosecutors compared to talking in code. Still, prosecutors said it was clear Fillyaw was instructing Peterson to act before the upcoming testimony of the witness.
“I’m getting ready to deliver exactly what I have to deliver. I’m getting ready to give you what you need,” Peterson told Fillyaw during one of the calls played in court. “My word to you, that will be taken care of.”
According to the audio, Peterson also told Fillyaw that “I had a long talk with her father. I told him how it’s got to be.”
Additional exchanges included “putting more juice” into their efforts and “she’s got to change her weather.”
Contacted Wednesday, Peterson said he and Fillyaw were deliberately speaking in “black slang,” and that “the day white men say they can interpret that is the day I start believing in Jack and the Beanstalk.”
Specifically addressing the quote about having a “long talk with her father,” Peterson said he was not talking about the father of the witness. Peterson also said he and Fillyaw were well aware jail phone conversations are recorded and would not have said anything to incriminate themselves.
Peterson said he was paid by Fillyaw, through the defense attorneys, to act as a private investigator in the case, and that he is confident authorities will not be able to prove any evidence of wrongdoing on his part.
Peterson is the cousin of the witness’ father, according to testimony. Prosecutors said Peterson attended a Jan. 2 meeting between the witness, her father and defense attorneys James Schwarzbach and Lawrence Wade.
Parker’s attorney, Greg Nikitas, noted that Parker had no role in the jailhouse phone calls, and at one point unsuccessfully sought a mistrial related to the issue.
The witness, who was 16 and lived across the street from Shaw at the time of the home invasion, subsequently testified and identified Fillyaw and Parker in court as men she saw running from the scene. She also conceded under cross examination that she didn’t have a good look at their faces.
While jurors were removed from the courtroom when the tapes were first played during trial, excerpts from the calls were played before jurors during closing arguments.
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A sentencing date has not yet been set for the North Chicago men, but a status hearing is scheduled Feb.19.
The case was reheard in a rare double-jury setting after a state appellate court in 2011 found trial errors in the men’s first 2009 convictions.
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