Fellow inmate: Lash said victim 'deserved it'
Anne Warfield
Alleged Lash remark comes to light
Document: Hayes 'deserved it,' defendant said
By CHRIS DETTRO
STAFF WRITER
Murder defendant and convicted rapist Dale W. Lash told a fellow
Sangamon County Jail inmate last year that murder victim Lori Hayes
"deserved it," according to documents filed in connection with Lash's
upcoming trial.
Lash, 39, of rural Loami, is accused of carjacking, sexually
assaulting and murdering Hayes, 25, of Auburn, on Aug. 1, 1999. The
body of Hayes, the mother of a 10-month-old daughter, was found in a
cornfield east of Chatham the next day.
His trial, in which the state is seeking the death penalty, is
scheduled to begin with jury selection Oct. 21 in Peoria, where it was
moved on a change of venue.
The alleged comment from Lash came to light in the prosecutors'
response to a request by Lash's attorneys for a list of non-statutory
aggravating factors the state intends to use during sentencing should
Lash be convicted of the Hayes murder.
A document filed by Sangamon County State's Attorney John Schmidt
lists eight factors, including "the fact that defendant told Andy
Hooper Lori Hayes deserved it, or words to that effect."
The filing does not elaborate, but Hooper's name came up at a hearing
in January, when Associate Circuit Judge George Ray let stand
subpoenas issued by defense attorneys Adam Giganti and Scott Hanken
seeking jail records and reports about Hooper, who had a fight with
Lash inside the jail in November 2001.
The subpoena also sought incident reports and other information
regarding the jail's "G block" so the defense could determine if there
were witnesses to the fight, during which Lash was alleged to have
made certain statements to Hooper.
Hooper had been jailed on a charge of possession of a controlled
substance. He pleaded guilty in July.
Most of the other aggravating factors Schmidt and assistant state's
attorneys John Belz and Jay Magnuson plan to use stem from other
cases, including the Nov. 3, 1998, rape of a 42-year-old Springfield
real estate agent whom Lash lured to a vacant home. The former
construction worker and security guard was convicted of that crime and
sentenced to 60 years in prison.
Testimony at Lash's February 2001 trial indicated that he contacted
two other female real estate agents before he assaulted the third one.
The court filing says the state plans to use evidence of his stalking
the first two in support of a death sentence.
Prosecutors also plan to outline the circumstances of the rape of a
25-year-old apartment rental agent Lash is accused of assaulting at
knifepoint in 1995.
DNA evidence links Lash to the sexual assaults of the real estate
agent and the apartment rental agent, as well as the Hayes assault.
Prosecutors also plan to call a witness to testify about Lash's
attitude toward women and to call Hayes' parents to testify about the
impact of their daughter's death on their family.
If Lash is convicted, the second phase of the capital trial would
require the jury to find that the facts of the case meet certain
statutory requirements to make Lash eligible for the death penalty. If
he is found eligible, the non-statutory factors would be used in the
sentencing phase of the trial.
Lash allegedly carjacked Hayes and her daughter at the Parkway Pointe
complex on Aug. 1, 1999, raped the woman, then shot her in the head.
Hayes' Jeep Grand Cherokee was found that afternoon in the parking lot
of the Parkway Pointe 8 movie theater with her daughter, Alexis,
strapped in a car seat in the back seat.
Testimony in the trial is scheduled to begin Oct. 28 in the Peoria
County Courthouse.
Chris Dettro can be reached at 788-1510 or chris....@sj-r.com.
http://www.sj-r.com/sections/news/stories/N09232002,e.asp
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Anne Warfield
indigoace at goodsol period com
http://www.goodsol.com/cats/