Blaique Morgan's Murder Trial Verdict Isn't Quite Ready: Judge

JOLIET, IL — A couple dozen family and friends of Joliet murder victim Bob Bielec and first-degree murder defendant Blaique Morgan packed into the wooden benches of Courtroom 404, anticipating a verdict from Judge Vincent Cornelius at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday.

It was not to be.

When Cornelius entered his courtroom, the Will County judge let everyone that his verdict is still in draft form and with Friday being a holiday, he asked everyone to return to his courtroom on Monday. He plans to render his verdict at 9:30 a.m., Cornelius said.

Will County prosecutors have asked the judge to find Morgan guilty of first-degree murder under an accountability theory. Prosecutors maintain that Morgan did absolutely nothing to stop his younger brother, Amari, from clubbing their next door neighbor, Bielec, 62, over the head with a baseball bat. The bat was never found, but Will County Sheriff's detectives recovered the bloody gym shoes of both Morgan brothers from a Waste Management garbage can on Joliet's Nicholson Street. The shoes contained the DNA of the homicide victim, according to the trial testimony.

As for his defense, Morgan, now 26, informed Judge Cornelius he decided not to testify in his own defense. His Will County Public Defenders chose not to call any witnesses when the prosecution finished presenting its evidence against the young man from Preston Heights.