People v. Fetterman

302 N.E.2d 218, 14 Ill. App. 3d 120, 1973 Ill. App. LEXIS 1813
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedAugust 2, 1973
Docket55408
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 302 N.E.2d 218 (People v. Fetterman) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Court of Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People v. Fetterman, 302 N.E.2d 218, 14 Ill. App. 3d 120, 1973 Ill. App. LEXIS 1813 (Ill. Ct. App. 1973).

Opinion

Mr. PRESIDING JUSTICE DEMPSEY

delivered the opinion of the court:

The defendant, Kenneth Fetterman, was found guilty by a jury of the murders of Anna Karela and her infant daughter, Kimberly. Fetter-man was sentenced to the penitentiary for 100 to 199 years for the murder of Anna Karela and to a consecutive sentence of 14 to 20 years for the murder of Kimberly. On appeal the defendant initially argues that the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress physical evidence seized and oral statements taken from him as a result of an allegedly unlawful arrest.

At 4:30 P.M. on November 17, 1969, Jerome Karela, the husband of Anna and the father of Kimberly, returned from his employment to his home at 3715 Prairie Avenue, Brookfield. He observed that the door leading to his second floor apartment was open, although it was customarily locked. Upon entering the apartment he found the body of his 23-year-old wife lying on the kitchen floor. She had been stabbed many times and was naked from the waist down with her ankles and wrists bound. He called the Brookfield Police Department and then entered the bedroom of his 13-month-old daughter who was lying face up and lifeless in her crib. After this he went to the first floor apartment to check the condition of his grandmother; she was unharmed and unaware of what had taken place in his apartment.

Brookfield police officers arrived at the apartment at approximately 4:40 P.M. The bodies of both Anna and Kimberly were still warm, and a cloth which had been knotted tightly around the throat of Kimberly was removed. A fire department inhalator was summoned and an unsuccessful attempt was made to resuscitate Kimberly. The cause of her death was determined to be strangulation; her mother died from loss of blood — the result of 35 stab wounds. Large quantities of blood could be seen throughout the apartment.

More police officers arrived on the scene. There was no indication that an intruder had entered by force and a thorough inspection was made of the apartment. A blue receipt card was found .on a counter in the kitchen bearing the printed name, Sheridan Peter Pan Studios; it bore the notation “$3.00” and was signed “Kenny.” Sergeant Hymel of the Brookfield police, who was participating in the investigation, received no answer when he telephoned Peter Pan Studios. He thereupon contacted Detective Banners of the Chicago Police Department and asked his assistance in locating the owner of the studios in order to determine the identity of the individual who signed the receipt. From Burton Schender, an owner of the studio, Banners learned that the only “Kenny” recently employed by Peter Pan was Kenneth Fetterman whose address was 109 South Grove Street, Oak Park. Schender told Banners that Fettermans employment had been terminated because his driver’s license was revoked or suspended. While employed by Peter Pan he had taken baby pictures on October 14, 1969, in the Karela home. A neighbor reported that Mrs. Karela was expecting the pictures to be delivered. Banners checked police files and discovered that Fetterman had been previously sentenced to the penitentiary for a sex offense. He also obtained a photograph of Fetterman.

Banners then went with another detective to the Oak Park Police Station where he met Sergeant Hymel. They were joined by Detectives Grams and Fleming of the Oak Park Police Department, and at about 10:30 P.M. the five officers proceeded to Fettermans Oak Park apartment. No one responded when they knocked on the door. They then returned to the Oak Park Station and Detective Banners telephoned the apartment. A woman answered the phone and he asked for “Connie.” Apparently misunderstanding him the woman stated, “he is not home.” Detectives Grams and Fleming went back to the apartment and kept it under surveillance; they were later joined by Sergeant Hymel and three other officers. At about 5:00 A.M. an officer rang the bell of the apartment and the defendant’s mother answered the door. She was asked whether the defendant was home and she said that he was not. After the officers were admitted to the apartment, they told her that they wished to talk with her son in connection with a double homicide in Brookfield as a card from the Peter Pan Studios had been found in the home of the victims which bore his name. The mother stated that her son did not work for the studio any more because his driver’s license had been taken from him. She also informed the officers that the last time her son was at the apartment was the previous evening between 7 and 7:30 P.M. at which time she could hear him washing. At the hearing on the motion to suppress the officers who spoke with her stated that she told them that the defendant washed his raincoat and then left the house. When testifying herself, however, she declared that she did not know whether or not her son washed the raincoat, although she may have told the officers he did. Without objection from the defendant’s mother Detective Grams walked into the defendant’s bedroom; he seized bottles on top of the defendant’s dresser as weH as one from a partially opened drawer as he believed they contained iHegal drugs. The officers remained in the apartment approximately one-half hour. The mother told them that her son was driving her green AMX car as his car was being repaired.

After leaving the defendant’s home most of the officers continued surveHlance of the premises; Officer Nelson and Detective SuHivan of the Oak Park Police Department joined them. Shortly after 9:00 A.M. the defendant drove the green AMX automobile into the alley behind 109 South Grove and stopped in front of the garage. Sullivan approached the vehicle with his gun drawn and announced his office. Nelson opened the door of the car on the driver’s side and Fetterman stepped out. He was arrested and was “patted down” by Sullivan. Meanwhile, Nelson looked into the car and saw a map and a light colored trench coat. Sergeant Hymel walked up to the car and noticed that the map had reddish brown stains on it and that it was a map of Brookfield. He also observed a newspaper featuring the Karela murders, and a stain on the driver’s side of the car which appeared to be dried blood. The defendant was warned of his constitutional rights and was informed he was being taken into custody as a result of the investigation of the murders in Brookfield and for the possession of dangerous drugs.

An arrest without a warrant is lawful if a criminal offense has been committed and the arresting officer has a reasonable basis for believing that the person arrested committed it. (People v. Wright (1969), 42 Ill.2d 457, 248 N.E.2d 78; People v. Asey (1967), 85 Ill.App.2d 210, 229 N.E.2d 368.) The test whether the officer has reasonable grounds for his belief is whether a reasonable and prudent man, having the knowledge the officer possessed would believe the person arrested guilty of the offense. (People v. Carroll (1971), 133 Ill.App.2d 78, 272 N.E.2d 822.) The officers who arrested Fetterman knew that he had been convicted of a sex offense, and had been in the Karela home taking baby pictures about one month before the murders. The condition of Mrs.

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Bluebook (online)
302 N.E.2d 218, 14 Ill. App. 3d 120, 1973 Ill. App. LEXIS 1813, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-fetterman-illappct-1973.