[Springfield] Police detective details Novak’s death
Anne Warfield
car was set on fire.
From the [Springfield IL] State Journal-Register--
Police detective details Novak’s death
Stewart pleads not guilty; trial date set for March 18
By CHRIS DETTRO
STAFF WRITER
Julie Novak was hit in the head with a tire iron and a large chunk of
concrete before her body was thrown into Lake Springfield on Nov. 8, a
Springfield police investigator testified Thursday.
Detective Jim Graham, who testified at a preliminary hearing for
Joseph Stewart, 38, the man accused of murdering Novak and later
burning her car, said witnesses told police the 30-year-old woman was
killed because Stewart and his girlfriend were afraid Novak would go
to police about an earlier drug-related incident.
Stewart, charged with three counts of first-degree murder and one
count of arson, pleaded not guilty to the charges and requested a jury
trial. Circuit Judge Patrick Kelley set a tentative trial date of
March 18 and told attorneys the case is assigned to Associate Circuit
Judge Charles Gramlich.
Postal workers reported Novak’s car on fire about 5:30 a.m. Nov. 8 in
the parking lot of the former All-Star Inn, 2224 E. Cook St. About
three hours later, a fisherman found Novak’s body a few feet from
shore at a fishing area in the 900 block of East Lake Drive, about a
block south of the Springfield Muni Opera site.
Graham, under questioning by Sangamon County State’s Attorney John
Schmidt, said a Crime Stoppers tip led police to interview Brandon
Howell, who told them that Stewart had come to his house in the early
morning of Nov. 8 wearing a white T-shirt with blood on it. Howell
said Stewart told him he had "killed a girl and dumped her in the
lake."
Stewart, who has been in jail since Dec. 7 on a misdemeanor charge and
for walking away from an inmate work detail on Dec. 19 only to be
apprehended three hours later, was interviewed twice — on Feb. 4 and
Feb. 6, Graham said.
The detective testified Stewart told him on Feb. 4 that he had known
Novak, the mother of a 2-year-old son, since last summer when he lived
at the All-Star Inn. He said Novak would buy drugs from him, and the
two would smoke crack cocaine together.
On Nov. 7, Stewart told Graham, Novak came to a room at the Budget
Inn, 3125 Wide Track Drive, that Stewart shared with his girlfriend,
19-year-old Danielle Lucas, a woman with several prostitution and
other arrests who also is known as "Strawberry."
Also present was Howell, who sold drugs to Novak and then smoked crack
with the others, Graham said.
"He (Stewart) said he had been driving Novak’s car that evening and
had gone to Brandon Howell’s apartment," the detective said. "He said
he was present when she died and that guilt was eating him up. He said
he needed a couple of days to get his head straight" before he talked
with police again.
On Feb. 6, Stewart told Graham that Novak and Howell, who previously
had never met, got into an argument at the Budget Inn and that Howell
struck Novak in the face with his hand and in the leg with a pool cue.
Novak threatened to go to the police, Graham testified Stewart told
him.
He said the four continued to use drugs, then Stewart took Howell
home. When he returned to the motel, Stewart said, Lucas and Novak had
been arguing. He said the three wanted more crack but had no money, so
they got in Novak’s car, with Lucas driving, and went back to Howell’s
apartment to obtain more drugs.
Howell wouldn’t answer the door, however, so the trio left for
Stewart’s mother’s house, with Stewart and Lucas still afraid that
Novak would go to the police over the earlier incident.
Stewart, in the front seat, said he felt something poke him and turned
quickly, striking Novak, who was in the back seat, in the nose and
mouth with his elbow. He said she got out of the car and tried to run,
but he tackled her and put her back in the car. He rode in the back
seat with her as Lucas drove south on Taylor Avenue and turned on
Hermitage Road.
Novak was still trying to get out of the back seat, Stewart said, so
Lucas pulled off the road and got a four-way tire iron from the trunk,
with which she struck Novak several times in the head.
Lucas, when interviewed by police Feb. 7, denied she never struck
Novak and said it was Stewart who used the tire iron. Neither Lucas or
Howell has been charged with any crime in connection with the case,
although it remains under investigation, Schmidt said.
Aside from Stewart’s statement, there was no testimony at the hearing
that indicated there is any evidence Lucas struck Novak.
Howell also denied striking Novak earlier in the evening, Graham said
in response to a question from Sangamon County public defender Brian
Otwell.
Stewart told police that he pushed Novak’s now limp body back in the
car, and he and Lucas drove to Lake Springfield. Finding the gates to
several parks locked, they drove to the fishing area and the two
pulled Novak from the car.
Stewart said Novak made a noise and he could tell she was still
breathing, so he picked up a large chunk of concrete and dropped it on
her head. He said they then picked up her body and threw it in the
water.
Afterward, they drove back to Howell’s house and asked for more drugs,
then returned to the Budget Inn, took showers and put their clothing
in a bag. Stewart said he and Lucas drove to the back of the All-Star
Inn, left the clothing in the back seat and tried to burn the car. He
said the first fire went out, so he threw some trash and leaves into
the trunk and set a second fire.
Graham said Lucas admitted being at the lake, but denied striking
Novak or leaving the Budget Inn to burn the car.
The detective said police used a map Stewart drew to recover a
four-way tire iron from the Hermitage Road area, and that a bloody
white T-shirt and other clothing was recovered from the back of
Novak’s burned car.
The recovered evidence is awaiting testing at the Illinois State
Police Crime Lab, Graham said.
Chris Dettro can be reached at 788-1510 or chris....@sj-r.com.
http://www.sj-r.com/news/Friday/i.htm
--
Anne Warfield
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