Triple family murder in IL:Man,his 9 y.o.son,and fiance slaughtered inside of their home,no firm suspects or motive yet
Joe1orbit
Hello,
Over in Illinois, 52 year old M.T. Hawkins, Sr.,his 42 year old
girlfriend/fiance, and his nine year old son have all been found murdered
inside of their home. Police say that M.T. and his gal-pal were both shot to
death. The nine year old boy, M.T. Hawkins, Jr.,was strangled to death with a
sock. This triple murder occured late Saturday night or early Sunday morning.
Police have no suspects and no motive, they say this definately does NOT look
like a murder-suicide by M.K. Hawkins Sr. Robbery was not a motive either.
Autopsies on our three newly slaughtered folks will be done today or tomorrow.
As you might expect at this early point in time, investigators are not
releasing very much information, as they try to find both a motive and a
suspect in this case.
The 42 year old gal, Patricia Easter, had recently moved in with M.K., and
they had pland to wed in the not too distant future. Both were involved in
previous relationships, and police are probing the possibility that jealousy,
on the part of an ex wife or ex-boyfriend, may have led to this triple murder.
Just last month, someone vandalized M.K.'s car, as it sat in the driveway of
the home where this triple murder occured. Police were called, and M/K. told
them that he suspected his ex-wife migght be behind the car vandalism, but no
arrests were made. You can bet that this ex-wife got a visit from police
investigators, in the wake of this triple murder.
Interesting how both adults were shot to death, but the 9 year old boy was
strangled with a sock, a much more intimate and hands-on type of murder method.
Take care, JOE
The following appears courtesy of the 12/8/97 online edition of The Chicago
Tribune newspaper:
POLICE SEEKING CLUES IN SLAYINGS OF COUPLE, CHILD IN THEIR HOME
By Rachel Melcer, Tribune Staff Writer. Tribune Staff Writer Stephanie Banchero
contributed to this story
Monday, December 8, 1997
Dateline: KANKAKEE
A 52-year-old man, his 9-year-old son and 42-year-old fiance were killed
Saturday night or early Sunday in their Kankakee home.
M.T. Hawkins and Patricia Easter were found shot to death in the couple's
upstairs bedroom. and 9-year-old M.T. Hawkins--known as "Junior"--was found
strangled to death with a sock, said Kankakee County Coroner Jim Orrison.
Police had made no arrests by late Sunday night.
"We are stumped for a motive," said Lt. Larry Regnier.The home had not been
burglarized, he said.
The three were found in their home in the 1800 block of Greenview Avenue by a
relative at about 10 a.m. Sunday, according to Kankakee Police Chief Bill
Doster.
Autopsies are to be performed Monday or Tuesday. Police were on the scene
throughout the day Sunday, according to neighbors, but little information has
been made public.
"We haven't eliminated anyone at this point," Doster said.
M.T. Hawkins worked as a crane operator with Birmingham Steel Corp. in
Bourbonnais, and Easter worked at a convenience store.
----------------------------------------------
The following appears courtesy of yesterday's United Press International news
wire:
Three found slain in Kankakee
United Press International
Sun, 7 Dec 1997
KANKAKEE, Ill., Dec. 7 (UPI) -- Police in Kankakee are investigating an
apparent triple slaying.
The bodies of 52-year-old M.T. Hawkins Sr. and his 42-year-old girlfriend
Patricia Easter were found shot Sunday morning in Hawkins' two- story home.
Hawkins' 9-year-old son was found strangled.
The home had not been ransacked, and detectives reportedly think the motive was
something other than robbery.
Easter worked as a clerk at an area Citgo gas station, while Hawkins, a Vietnam
veteran, was a crane operator. Neighbors say Easter had recently moved in with
Hawkins and the couple reportedly planned to get married.
But Kankakee Police Chief William Doster noted both adults had left other
relationships behind.
Doster said Hawkins' car was vandalized last month as it sat in front of his
home. The tires were slashed and the paint was scratched.
Doster said Hawkins ``seemed to think somebody, perhaps his ex-wife, might have
been involved with that.''
Joe1orbit
Hello,
Here's an update on this triple murder case out of Illinois, where a daddy,
his 9 year old son, and his live-in fiancee were all killed, sometime over the
weekend. The two adults were shot to death, while the 9 year old boy was
physically strangled to death, with the killer using a sock in the fatal
strangulation.
Still no arrests in this case, but we do get some interesting new info in
this article. Investigators continue to focus upon domestic problems that both
adults were having, with other family members. We learn that the ex-wife of
M.T. Hawkins, 44 year old Wanda Hawkins, came to this house on Christmas Day of
1996. M.T. already had an order of protection out against her. Ex-wife Wanda
violated the order of protection on Christmas Day 1996, came to the house,
brandished a KNIFE, and threatened to KILL M.T.!
Last month, Wanda was found guilty, in regards to this incident, and
apparently sentenced to 6 DAYS in jail, which she did serve. M.T. had legal
ciustody of his nine year old son.
Naturally Wanda has to be considered a prime suspect in this triple murder.
Police say that they have spoken to her by phone, since she lives in another
state, and that she is not formally a suspect and has not been charged with any
crime relating to this triple murder.
Meanwhile, Patricia Easter, the live-in fiance, wgo had SEVEN children of her
own, from previous relationships, had domestic problems of her own, most
specifically the fact that she is still MARRIED to another man. He says that he
saw her late Saturday night, and that she had asked him for a divorce during
that conversation, just HOURS before the triple murder occured. But he
maintains that he had nothing to do with the murders and that he simply told
her that he did not want a divorce and still had hope of reconciling with her.
So, it looks like investigators have quite a tangled web of pathetic
interfamilial relationships gone sour to sort through, in this case. I think it
would be most interesting IF indeed 44 year old Wanda went to the house, shot
M.K. and his live-in fiance to death, and then used a sock to strangle her OWN
9 year old son to death! but that is only hopeful speculation on my part.
Police say they do NOT have a "prime" suspect, and that their investigation is
only in the early stages.
Take care, JOE
The following appears courtesy of the 121/9/97 online edition of The Chicago
Tribune newspaper:
Police probe domestic tangle in 3 slayings in Kankakee
By T. Shawn Taylor
TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
Tuesday, December 9, 1997
Police investigating a triple homicide in Kankakee over the weekend are
focusing on ``domestic issues'' surrounding the two adults who were found slain
in their home along with a 9-year-old boy, police said.
The bodies of M.T. Hawkins Sr., 52, his live-in fiance, Patricia Easter, 42,
and Hawkins' son, M.T. Hawkins--known as ``Junior''--were found at 10 a.m.
Sunday by Hawkins' sister, Michelle Edwards, and her common-law husband,
Aureliuse ``Buddy'' Piper, in the home they shared in the 1800 block of
Greenview Avenue.
Hawkins and Easter were fatally shot in an upstairs bedroom; Junior was
strangled with a sock in a downstairs bedroom, said Kankakee Police Chief Bill
Doster.
There were no signs of forced entry, and nothing appeared to have been stolen,
Doster said. The back door was unlocked, but police were told that was not
unusual, he said.
Police said Hawkins and Easter were embroiled in their own--and one
another's--domestic problems. For Hawkins, it was a disgruntled former wife
whom he had accused of crimes ranging from property damage to threats on his
life, according to police reports.
In November, Wanda Hawkins, 44, who lives in Tennessee, was convicted in an
incident that occurred on Christmas Day 1996, when she came to Hawkins' home,
violating an order of protection, and threatened Hawkins and Piper with a
knife, according to police reports and the Kankakee County state's attorneys
office.
A state's attorney's office spokeswoman said the file containing information
about Wanda Hawkins' sentencing was unavailable, but Piper said the family was
horrified that she spent only six days in jail.
On Halloween Hawkins discovered scratches in the paint and four tires slashed
on his 1992 Cadillac, and he found cut phone wires at his home, according to a
police report. He had given the Cadillac to Easter and had recently bought
himself a new truck, Edwards said.
Kankakee Police Lt. Larry Reigner said police had spoken with Wanda Hawkins at
her Tennessee residence by telephone.
The couple's divorce was final in April, Edwards said. Hawkins had custody of
Junior, their only child.
Easter, a mother of seven, was engaged to Hawkins but still married to Mark
Easter, Doster said. Easter told police he last saw his estranged wife Saturday
about 11 p.m., when she went to his home to do laundry.
``She was talking about getting a divorce, but he was hopeful they'd get back
together,'' Doster said.
Doster said it appeared that the Easters were on agreeable terms and were
scheduled to take the paper route of one of their three daughters--ages 3, 8
and 9--at 5 a.m. Sunday. Mark Easter became concerned when his wife did not
show up, Doster said.
``He went to the (Hawkins) house and beat on the doors, and nobody answered,''
he said. ``So, he went on to deliver the papers.''
Doster said the Easters do not have a history of domestic problems.
``I believe they were getting closer,'' said Easter's elder daughter, Julie
Pomberg, 21, of Kankakee. On Monday she was at the Citgo gas station at 330 S.
Nelson Ave., where her mother worked as an assistant manager for five years.
Easter's 15-year-old son and her three daughters by Easter stayed mostly with
her at Hawkins' home.
``Thank God they weren't there Saturday night,'' said Dave Kraemer, Easter's
boss and manager of the Citgo. The girls spent Saturday night with their
father.
Edwards described her brother, a train operator at Birmingham Steel in
Bourbonnais, as ``a hard-working man.''
``He never hurt anybody . . . so I can't imagine anyone doing that to him,''
she said.
``He was a good person and he took care of his son,'' said neighbor Carole
Searle.
Gen Keller, who lives three houses down, said she did not know much about the
elder Hawkins but had recently got to know his son after the boy offered to
help her rake leaves in her yard last month.
``He came by one night, and he said, `Can I help you?' He said, `My dad said
that's what you're supposed to do, help old people.' ''
Keller said Junior, who attended King Middle School, returned last week to see
if she needed more help.
``He was a cute little kid,'' Keller said. ``It's a sad thing.''
Kraemer and Pomberg said Easter was a woman who feared nothing but was kind to
everyone. He said her regular customers at the Citgo had left the station in
tears Monday upon hearing the news.
``There's a hole in my company that cannot be filled,'' said Kraemer. ``She's
part of my family.''
Kraemer said a fund for Easter's children has been set up through First of
America Bank, 1 Dearborn Square, Kankakee, Ill. 60901.
Joe1orbit
Hello,
There has been an arrest made in this triple family murder incident out of
Illinois, where a 52 year old man named M.T. Hawkins, his live-in
girlfriend/fiance, and his nine year old son were all found slaughtered inside
of the home where they lived. M.T. and his fiance were both shot to death,
while the nine year old boy was strangled to death with a sock.
Initial news reports suggested that the ex-wife of M.T., and mother of the
nine year old, who had indeed threatened to kill M.T. only one year ago, and
against whom M.T. did have an Order of Protection, might be involved in this
triple murder.
However, the person under arrest is a 35 year old man named Aureliuse Piper.
Police say that he had lived in the house in the past, and had been asked by
M.T. to move out shortly before this triple murder occured. Aureliuse is an
ex-con, having served time in prison for armed robbery. Police speculate that
robbery due to a drug addiction on Aureliuse's part might have played some
role in this triple murder, although that does not really explain why he shot
M.T. & his fiance to death, and strangled the nine year old boy with a sock. I
see RAGE in this triple murder, not just a need/desire for money.
Police say there was "ill-feeling" between Aureliuse and Patricia Easter, the
live-in girlfriend/fiance of M.K.'s. They also say it is possible that other
suspects were involved in this triple murder, and have called in an FBI
"profiler" to "search" for another suspect. I'm telling ya, those FBI profilers
are just a small step above clairvoyant psychics, in terms of their ability to
SOLVE anything. Here we have a small-town Illinois police department, faced
with a triple murder. The lead investigators just have a pathetic "hunch" that
maybe Aureliuse did not act alone in the commission of this impressive triple
homicide, and right away they call in an FBI profiler to "search" for a 2nd,
very possibly nonexistent, suspect.
Take care, JOE
The following appears courtesy of yesterday's United Press International news
wire:
United Press International
Fri, 12 Dec 1997
Suspect arrested in Kankakee slayings
KANKAKEE, Ill., Dec. 12 (UPI) -- Kankakee police have arrested a 35- year-old
man in connection with last week's slayings of a couple and young boy.
Aureliuse ``Buddy'' Piper had lived in the house where 52-year-old M. T.
Hawkins and his 42-year-old girlfriend Patricia Easter were each shot in the
head. Hawkins' 9-year-old son was strangled with a sock and found in the
basement.
Police said they aren't ruling out other suspects in the killings, and have
called in an FBI profiler to search for another suspect.
Piper, who reportedly served six years in prison for armed robbery, was
questioned a few times earlier this week but released. Police said they
arrested him today after he voluntarily came back for additional questioning.
Piper and his girlfriend, the elder Hawkins' sister, had been asked to move out
by Hawkins before the killings, according to police, and possibly needed money
from the victims for drugs.
Kankakee Police Chief Bill Doster said at a news conference that there was
``ill feeling'' between Easter and Piper. According to one report, Hawkins
wanted Piper and his girfriend to move out so Easter could move in.