Our family wants to know how Johnsburg police eliminated Rob Render as a suspect in the disappearance of Brian Carrick.
This is a simple and reasonable request for us to make because of these facts:
1. Only Render’s blood and bloody fingerprint were at the crime scene with Brian Carrick’s. Neither Mario Casciaro nor Shane Lamb had any of their blood or fingerprints at the crime scene.
2. Only Render told a witness, a week before the attack on Carrick, that he disliked Carrick and was planning to attack him with a weapon.
3. Only Render was who Carrick was looking for when he entered Val’s for the last time before his disappearance because Render owed him money.
4. Only Render said he was cut in the attack on Carrick and went in the bathroom to bandage himself.
5. Only Render claimed that when the garbage was dumped he saw “legs” and “feet” in a garbage bag that “theoretically” could have belonged to Carrick.
6. Only Render knew there had been a knife attack outside of the cooler. (Render claimed Lamb cut him with a knife outside the cooler.)
7. Only Render was missing for one to two hours that night.
8. Only Render was not eating pizza in the break room with Casciaro, Eddie Carrick and others from 6:45 to 7 p.m.
9. Only Render’s clothes were seized from his garbage Dec. 26, 2002, by Johnsburg police and Illinois State Police but never tested.
10. Only Render was seen by the mop room after the incident with a mop, and the cooler was mopped that night, which was never done.
11. Only Render asked Lorenzo Vallone before 7 p.m. for the key to the southeast exit door lock.
12. Only Render left the key in the southeast exit door.
13. Only Render’s blood was found in three places on the southeast exit door.
14. Only Render was wearing pants that were observed to have wet, red stains on them.
15. Only Render was found to have $100 in cash in his pocket later that night, even though he was not allowed to have cash and Brian Carrick was known to have $100 in his pocket.
16. Only Render stated on the night of the incident to a witness that there had been a fight in the cooler.
17. Only Render appeared at the store at 8 a.m. Saturday and continued cleaning up the cooler.
18. Only Render quit work the day after Carrick disappeared.
19. Only Render was caught and fired for stealing liquor from Val’s. Our family was kind enough to rehire him.
20. Only Render had a court appearance Dec. 20, 2002, for a misdemeanor possession charge.
21. Only Render had multiple interviews with Johnsburg Police Chief Keith Von Allmen that were never transcribed or turned over.
We are not accusing Render of being the murderer, rather we are asking for the answer to the key question: How was Render eliminated as a suspect in the case?
To date, the only explanation provided by the state’s attorney is that Jacob Kepple’s floor mats did not test positive for blood after being taken from Kepple a full week after Carrick disappeared. We know Render’s shoes had blood on them, and we know he walked around for at least an hour after Carrick disappeared. We also know he cleaned up the cooler that night, so it is not likely his shoes would leave blood on Kepple’s car mats.
We are requesting DNA testing on the underwear found in the ceiling and on Render’s clothes that were seized so that there is no question that neither Carrick’s blood nor Render’s blood is present.
Anyone who is innocent should have no fear of DNA testing or further investigation about who killed Carrick.
• Julia Casciaro Muell is Mario Casciaro’s sister. Mario Casciaro is serving 26 years in prison for Brian Carrick’s death. The family and its attorney are asking the trial judge to toss Casciaro’s first-degree murder conviction.