Hammer, Wrench Used In Cass Street Body Shop Murders: Trial

JOLIET, IL - Doug Oram Jr. works as a firefighter and paramedic for Lockport's Fire Protection District, but nothing could prepare him for the horror he saw inside Fleet Specialty Painting, his family's long-time business on Joliet's Cass Street. It was around lunch time on March 9, 2016 when Oram and his father both arrived there. The vehicle of Doug's younger brother, Mike Oram, was parked outside. But inside, the doors for Fleet Specialty Painting were all locked. Music blared from inside the shop. It was incredibly loud.

Father and son decided to enter. Doug Oram had a set of keys to unlock the doors. He walked in first. His father followed about five feet behind. First, they walked through their office, then a second room. The music got louder and louder. It came from the back of the shop, the main garage area where the Orams refurbished, repaired and painted cars.

Doug Oram Sr., who is in his 70s, told a Will County jury on Tuesday morning, "I had a strange feeling that something was going on." He had been the owner of the body shop at 809 E. Cass St. since the 1970s.

Once the father and son unlocked the door, Doug Oram Sr. testified, "I said, 'Let's go to the back room.'"

Doug Oram Jr. made it into the body shop area first. Once he looked inside, he knew right away that he had just witnessed the aftermath of a cold-blooded and ruthless murder — of his own brother.

"Doug told me to stop. It's Mike and he's dead," Doug Oram Sr. testified.

"I saw my brother sitting in a chair," Mike Oram's brother testified late Tuesday morning. "I pulled (my dad) out and told him 'Go out and call the police.'"

There was also a second dead body. It was a 43-year-old woman, Jamie Wills. She was sprawled across the body shop floor. Her clothing appeared to be snagged on a jack.

Father and son rushed outside. They called 911. Joliet police officer Robert Casares arrived within a minute or so.

Tuesday marked the start of testimony in the first-degree double murder trial for William "Billy" Krasawski, who turns 43 next week. He stands accused of bludgeoning Mike Oram, 48, and Jamie Wills, 43, to death inside the Cass Street body shop in March 2016.

Krasawski has professed his innocence. He is being represented by Will County Public Defenders Alexander Beck and Amy Christiansen. The Office of Will County State's Attorney James Glasgow is represented by prosecutors Derek Ewanic, Jeffrey Tuminello and Michael Fitzgerald.

The high-profile double murder trial in Judge Dave Carlson's Courtroom 407 is expected to last all week and may go into next week.

William "Billy" Krasawski

Ewanic handled the opening statements for Glasgow's team. The prosecution's witnesses as well as forensic evidence would leave the jury convinced of Krasawski's guilt, he promised. Joliet police detectives and evidence technicians recovered two different murder weapons inside the garage.

One was a pipe wrench. The other was a hammer, Ewanic revealed.

The day the murders were discovered, Joliet detectives began interviewing people affiliated with Fleet Specialty Painting. The previous day, people remembered an unfamiliar man who drove a red Ford Mustang visiting the shop. That man, police determined, was Krasawski.

Ewanic told the jury the defendant killed both victims and then immediately fled the Joliet area. The prosecution said Krasawski tried to sell his car and cell phone. He was distancing himself from the brutal murders, the prosecutor argued.

According to Ewanic, Krasawski hoped to hide out around Bourbonnais with his mother, but she was not receptive. She will be called to testify against her son as a witness for the prosecution, Ewanic said.

The defendant ultimately went to Chicago Heights, and Joliet police took him into custody at a motel there on March 11, 2016. He has remained in Will County custody ever since.

The prosecution told the jury that forensic evidence from one of the victims was recovered from the defendant's clothes. "We are confident that after (hearing the prosecution's testimony) that you will be able to find this defendant guilty of both counts of murder," Ewanic told the jury.

Christiansen handled the defendant's opening arguments. During her opportunity to address the jury, she held in her hand a few sheets of paper with large bold letters in black. One of her key messages read, "REASONABLE DOUBT."

"Ladies and gentlemen ... I'm going to ask for a finding of not guilty at the end of this trial," Christiansen told the jurors. She stressed that there were no fingerprints found at the scene of the crime that connected her client to the murders.

"No blood of his (is) at the scene," she added.

Joliet Patch will continue to cover this week's trial. Be sure to check back later this evening for updates on additional witness testimony.

Main image via Joliet Patch, mugshot of Billy Krasawski via Will County Sheriff's Department