Crime & Safety
Harrah's Murder Defendant Was Insane: Public Defenders
This week's jury trial for Joliet first-degree murder defendant Robert Watson got delayed at the request of his public defenders.
JOLIET, IL — This week will not be the start of Joliet Harrah's Casino hotel murder defendant Robert Watson's jury trial at the Will County Courthouse in the March 24, 2019, fatal stabbing of a Wisconsin senior citizen who was at the casino to gamble.
Last week, Will County Judge Dave Carlson agreed with Will County Public Defender Shenonda Tisdale's request to delay her client's trial. Tisdale notified the judge of Watson's insanity defense, and that more time is needed to prepare for an insanity defense trial.
Carlson agreed, removing the Feb. 6 jury trial from his court calendar. The new trial date is May 1.
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Watson stabbed 76-year-old "Sam" Burgarino of Hales Corners, Wisconsin, 26 times after ambushing the guest of Harrah's Casino on the fifth floor of the hotel during a robbery, according to prosecutors.
In August 2020, Dr. Anna Stapleton testified for the prosecution, suggesting Watson appears to be faking his mental illness.
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Dr. Stapleton testified that Watson has also lived in Wisconsin, Arizona, Hawaii, Florida and Minnesota. In recent years, he lived with his mother and also with his grandmother, but both women threw him out. During one incident, Watson yelled at his mother, "asking her if she was worshiping the devil," Stapleton told jurors in 2020, during a rare mental competency trial to determine whether Watson was mentally competent to stand trial for murder.
In August 2020,the Will County six-person civil jury agreed Watson is mentally fit to stand trial.
Around 2013, Watson was involved in an incident in Florida where police were called. According to prosecutors, Watson was standing naked on the roof of a building "wanting to kill himself."
According to Stapleton, Watson claimed at the time of the Florida incident "that he had some bad marijuana that day ... (and) was experiencing auditory hallucinations."
Related Patch coverage:
Is Harrah's Murder Defendant Faking Mental Illness?
Demonic Voices Inside Joliet Murder Defendant's Head, Doctor Says
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