Guilty Verdict: Baseball Bat Murder In Joliet Township

JOLIET, IL — After spending about 15 minutes reciting evidence from the recent first-degree murder trial that did not establish beyond a reasonable doubt that Blaique Morgan killed next door neighbor Bob Bielec with a baseball bat, Will County Judge Vince Cornelius reversed course, finding Morgan guilty under the prosecution's accountability theory.

Around 10 a.m. on Monday, Morgan was pronounced guilty of two counts of first-degree murder. The judge cited two other cases establishing a co-defendant's guilt that Cornelius agreed applied to the killing of the 62-year-old Joliet Township homicide victim, Bielec, in January 2016.

Cornelius said the recent trial evidence showed that Morgan and his younger brother, Amari, did not make any attempt to call the police to intervene in the Morgan family's ongoing disputes with Bielec, the next door neighbor.

Rather than call for Bielec from across the driveway to have a daytime conversation to air their differences, Blaique Morgan and his brother approached Bielec as he pulled into his driveway, under the dark of night, around 10:30 p.m. on Jan. 7, 2016, the judge reminded everyone.

Also, Blaique Morgan gave multiple stories to Will County Sheriff's detectives about what happened, ultimately blaming his younger brother for attacking Bielec with a baseball bat, which was disposed of and has never been found.

Blaique Morgan also took measures to hide evidence of the killing, disposing of his bloody gym shoes and his brother's shoes in a trash can at Blaique Morgan's girlfriend's house in Joliet, the judge pointed out.

Contrary to Blaique Morgan's sheriff's office interview, suggesting that Bielec pushed Blaique Morgan and Bielec was reaching into his winter coat to grab a gun, Judge Cornelius said the bloody crime scene photos established that Bielec died as his car key remained still in his hand.

The murder victim, whose skull was crushed, exposing brain matter, was clearly not in any position where he was trying to fight with the Morgans, the judge noted.

Bielec's hands, Cornelius told the courtroom, were not positioned in any fighting or defensive position. A pre-sentence investigation for Blaique Morgan was ordered by the judge. No sentencing date was announced at Monday's hearing in Courtroom 404.

The Will County State's Attorney's Office bench trial was being handled by assistant state's attorneys Mike Fitzgerald, Alyson Wozniak and Aristotelis Theodorou.

Morgan was represented by the Will County Public's Defender Office and two of its attorneys, Gabriel Guzman and Shenonda Tisdale.

One of the judge's more interesting revelations on Monday morning was that he chose to disregard the witness testimony of Blaique Morgan's now-ex girlfriend, Bianca Rodriguez. She was given use immunity from the Will County prosecutors in exchange for her testimony.

On the eve of the trial, she told sheriff's detectives that Blaique Morgan confessed to her in the aftermath of the slaying that he had killed Bob. For the previous six years, Rodriguez made no such statement, the judge noted. Therefore, Cornelius told everyone gathered on Monday morning that he chose to disregard Rodriguez's testimony as not being credible.

The judge also noted that she agreed to get the Morgan brothers different pairs of shoes after the killing, and she let Blaique Morgan dispose of his bloody shoes, and his brother Amari's, at her house on Nicholson Street.

Related Joliet Patch coverage:

Victim's Skull Crushed By Baseball Bat: Joliet Murder Trial Starts

Murder Victim's Blood Found On Blaique Morgan's Black Nikes: Witness