Closing arguments set Friday in Marseilles killing

Logan Petre testified Tuesday that he and his father quarreled regularly – about three times a week – but said things came to a head on Father’s Day weekend in 2024.

Petre, 22, of Marseilles is charged with first-degree murder in the death of Leo Petre. Logan Petre is arguing self-defense and needs a judge to believe that his life was indeed at stake or he’s headed to prison for 20 to 60 years.

Logan Petre took the stand Tuesday in La Salle County Circuit Court and said his father instigated the final fight. Initially, Leo provoked Logan verbally – “He was calling me a loser, a bum,” Logan said – but when Leo confronted him physically, Logan said he felt no choice but “to take him down.”

“Who got physical first?” defense attorney Ryan Hamer said.

“My dad,” Petre said.

“No question?” Hamer said.

“No, sir,” Petre responded.

A judge, not a jury, will decide whether Logan Petre was justified in strangling Leo. The verdict could come at the end of the week. La Salle County Circuit Judge Michelle A. Vescogni scheduled closing arguments for 1:30 p.m. Friday.

Vescogni did not, however, indicate whether she will issue a spot ruling or whether she will take the case under advisement and rule on it later.

At the intermittent bench trial that started in May, it was revealed that Logan Petre was detained by Marseilles police after a complaint of disorderly conduct and then handed over to his father. Once inside the family home, an argument ensued. Early the next day, police were summoned and found Leo unresponsive.

Pathologist Scott Denton testified that Leo Petre died from manual strangulation. Denton said the autopsy he conducted yielded multiple clues that Leo was choked past the moment he lost consciousness. Denton further testified that he found broken bones indicating “severe force” had been applied to Leo’s neck.

Toxicology results showed that Leo Petre had ingested alcohol – his blood-alcohol concentration was higher than the legal driving limit – as well as a byproduct of cocaine. Denton said neither the alcohol nor the cocaine were contributing factors in Leo’s death.

Was there a struggle? Evidence has been mixed, and there were no eyewitnesses to the struggle itself. Leo’s mother, however, testified earlier at trial that she rose from her bed in the middle of the night and found Leo lying bloodied and lifeless. Logan, she said, urged her to help dispose of blood-stained clothes. She refused and, when Logan was out of the room, sent for help.

Logan Petre was charged with murder after five hours of taped statements to Marseilles police. With the camera rolling, Logan initially denied engaging his father in any argument – “I just walked away” – and, when asked about his bloodied hands, speculated that he had brushed against something.

Later, however, Logan said his father initiated the confrontation when he stood up from his chair and slapped Logan in the face twice. That story migrated again. Logan told police that his father had been antagonizing him since he was 15 and that he just wanted his father to stop.