SYCAMORE – The former residents of a Genoa home that was broken into in 2005 described Wednesday the events that occurred that night during the murder trial of a man accused of planning the deadly home invasion.
Kirk B. Swaggerty, 41, is charged with first-degree murder, home invasion and possession of a weapon by a felon. Prosecutors say Swaggerty orchestrated the break-in with the goal of stealing more than 100 pounds of marijuana from the home of Amy Crosby and Michael Mason on Feb. 4, 2005.
Swaggerty was not in the home when the incident took place, but state law allows a person to be charged with murder if investigators believe an individual is responsible for orchestrating the crime that led to the killing.
Prosecutor Stephanie Klein with the DeKalb County State's Attorney's Office told the jury during her opening statement that Swaggerty is both legally and morally responsible for the death of Michael T. Kappa, 32, of Schaumburg, one of the two men who entered the Crosby-Mason home in the 700 block of John Court in Genoa.
The events were tied to Swaggerty's relationship with Mason in purchasing large quantities of marijuana, Klein said. Swaggerty, who owed Mason several thousand dollars for marijuana he had been given, was "too cowardly to do his own dirty work," Klein argued Wednesday. She alleged he assembled a crew to handle the break-in and steal the marijuana.
Chicago-based attorney Jason Kopec, representing Swaggerty, said during his opening statement that a man named John Stark also purchased marijuana from Mason, owed him several thousand dollars and had threatened to kill Mason. Everyone in the case is intertwined, Kopec said, and the state cannot say that only Swaggerty had the opportunity to organize the plan.
The state called Crosby and Mason as witnesses. Crosby choked up while recalling what happened around 10 p.m. Feb. 4, 2005, in the home she shared with Mason and their two children.
Crosby testified that Kappa grabbed her and put a knit cap over her face during the break-in. The second man who broke into the house – Jason Middlekauff, 39, also of Schaumburg – allegedly pointed a gun at Mason, whom he made lie facedown on the floor. After Mason and Middlekauff wrestled for the gun, Mason said he shot Middlekauff and Kappa.
Prosecutor Phil Montgomery asked Crosby to identify several photos of her home, the front door that was kicked in and her living room after the incident.
Montgomery showed Crosby the .22-caliber revolver that was brought in to the home by Middlekauff, then used by Mason to shoot the two men.
"It's the gun," Crosby said.
"What gun?" Montgomery replied.
"The gun that [Mason] had in his hand," she said.
Middlekauff, who was shot in the abdomen, fled in a van driven by Jaime Villarreal, 35, of Elgin. They went to McDonald's in Genoa, prosecutors said, and Middlekauff eventually was taken by an ambulance to Kishwaukee Community Hospital in DeKalb. Kappa was shot in the head and was flown to OSF Saint Anthony Medical Center in Rockford, where he died early the next morning.
Mason called police about 10:20 p.m. and reported the shooting, although when questioned by Kopec, Mason and Crosby said in court Wednesday they would not let police in the home without a search warrant. During a routine crime scene search, investigators found more than 100 pounds of marijuana and $17,000 in cash inside the home.
Mason testified that he had about 113 pounds of marijuana in his basement at the time of the break-in; he said Swaggerty and his wife, Denise, came to his home the day before the incident. He said he informed only Swaggerty – whom he had been selling about 25-50 pounds of marijuana to every week or two for more than four months – of the marijuana he had just received.
Mason said Swaggerty normally would pay the balance within a week or two; on Feb. 3, 2005, Mason said he allowed Swaggerty to take only five pounds of marijuana to show to his friends for purchase, and Swaggerty brought some old marijuana to trade with. Mason estimated Swaggerty owed him about $30,000 and thought Swaggerty's 1969 Firebird convertible – given to Mason as collateral – covered about $10,000 of that.
Kopec questioned inconsistencies in information Mason provided to investigators and comments made in court Wednesday regarding his employment and the amount of money Swaggerty owed him.
"I really don't remember what I said seven years ago exactly," Mason told Kopec.
Mason was not charged in the shooting but was sentenced in February 2007 to four years in the Illinois Department of Corrections for felony drug possession.
Middlekauff was charged with first-degree murder and, in January 2007, was sentenced to 20½ years in the Illinois Department of Corrections. Villarreal was accused of being involved with the planning of the break-in and he, too, was charged with first-degree murder. He pleaded guilty to murder in September 2006 and was sentenced to 24 years in prison.
Swaggerty, arrested in Mexico and brought to DeKalb County in February 2009, has been held at the DeKalb County Jail on a $10 million bond.
If convicted of the murder charge, Swaggerty faces up to 60 years in prison. The trial is expected to continue today at the DeKalb County Courthouse in Sycamore.