Harrah's Murder Trial Underway: Robert Watson Disagrees He's Insane

JOLIET, IL — As a child, Joliet Harrah's Casino & Hotel first-degree murder defendant Robert Watson made the high honor roll. His mother was a great lady. After high school, Watson even attended college, but then substance abuse problems dominated his life, Will County Assistant State's Attorney Tom Slazyk argued during Wednesday's first day of Watson's jury trial in Courtroom 405.

Watson once climbed a water tower and threatened to jump, the jury heard. After Watson was hospitalized, the medical staff found Watson had substances in his system that were at the root of his bizarre behaviors. "Not once was he kept institutionalized," Slazyk told the jury during opening arguments.

Four years ago, on a Sunday night, prosecutors said Watson fatally stabbed Harrah's Casino patron Sam Burgarino, who was staying in a fifth-floor hotel room along with his girlfriend, Denise Dixon. Watson had been lurking around the casino that entire weekend, preparing to rob someone of their money, the jury heard.

Burgarino, who was in his 70s, had worked for many years as a residential well digger in Wisconsin, owning a small business and employing a handful of workers. When he got tired of that line of work, Burgarino retired and acquired a sports bar, Slazyk remarked.

The lives of Burgarino and Watson, two complete strangers, intersected on the night of March 24, 2019. Watson, after college, "veered off on his own path" as alcohol, narcotics and marijuana led to his recurring problems, the prosecutor noted. "He started hanging around the wrong crowd and by in 2019, he was asked to leave the house."

The jury was told that Harrah's Casino's elaborate video surveillance system, which includes roughly 730 video cameras positioned throughout the property, spotted Watson wandering around the casino, as well as the casino parking deck and the hotel lobby, in the minutes prior to the fifth-floor hotel hallway stabbing.

For privacy reasons, Harrah's does not have video cameras positioned in the hallway outside hotel rooms, the prosecution's first witness to testify, Larry Ferguson, told the jury. Ferguson has overseen the surveillance technology at Harrah's Joliet since 2016 and has more than 20 years in the surveillance department with Harrah's.

Ferguson testified he was not working on the night of the murder.

As for Burgarino, he and his girlfriend visited the Joliet casino around noon on March 24, 2019. He later ate at a steak at The Reserve, a fancy restaurant inside Harrah's. They brought their leftovers back to their fifth-floor hotel room and returned to the casino to gamble.

Burgarino played the craps tables while Dixon went off to play the slots.

At one point, Burgarino left the main casino floor to return to his hotel room. He got off the elevator, went to his room, and "that's the last time Sam was alive," Slazyk told the jury.

The jury would see video from the casino lobby showing Watson pull a shiny knife out to put it into his coat pocket, for easier access, prior to the deadly stabbing, Slazyk pointed out.

"This is not some insanity or accident thing, and I'm going to prove that to you," the prosecutor stressed.

The jury will hear testimony from another casino guest, Glen Hill, who saw Watson stabbing Burgarino, according to the prosecutor.

The motive for Watson's crime was robbery, Slazyk said.

"He was out of the house. He needed money. If you want money, you go to a casino. They don't play with coupons," Slazyk told jurors.

Watson previously visited the Joliet Harrah's Casino back in 2014.

When Watson was arrested for the murder the following day, March 25, 2019, he was brought to the Joliet Police Station and inside an interview room he stared at the video surveillance camera for hours, Slazyk said.

"Again, he knows what he's doing. He knows the criminality of his conduct. You are not going to hear one doctor say he's insane. Not one," Slazyk contended.

Before Wednesday's trial got underway, Will County Judge Dave Carlson spent several minutes contemplating Watson's last-minute request to get rid of his Will County Public Defender, Shenonda Tisdale, and proceed pro se, without any lawyers for his defense.

Carlson announced that Watson made the request late Tuesday afternoon once the jury was picked.

"I don't want the defense that the public defender is choosing to," Watson told Judge Carlson on Wednesday morning, before the jury was brought into the courtroom.

Watson told the judge he has only spoken with Tisdale, his main lawyer, a handful of times over the past four-plus years. Tisdale has mounted an insanity defense for her client.

"I told her then I did not want to take that strategy," Watson told the judge on Wednesday morning.

"Mr. Watson clearly has a fundamental right to decide his legal direction," Judge Carlson declared. "He has a fundamental right, so long as I believe he's competent to make those decisions."

Watson told the judge that the insanity defense, "it sets me up to failure. That's my opinion, and I don't want to use that strategy. For lack of better words, I did not kill the man at the casino.

"I did not kill the man at the casino," Watson repeated. "My public defender is trying to get me to make an insanity plea."

In the end, Judge Carlson cleared the courtroom for 15 minutes and let Watson meet with Tisdale and two other public defenders to discuss how to proceed. When the discussion was over, everyone returned to Courtroom 405 and Watson informed the judge he had changed his mind, and was willing to let the public defender's office handle his defense, after all.

Tisdale gave a short opening statement to the jury.

She suggested that after the jury hears all the trial evidence, which may last into next week, "I submit to you the evidence will be insufficient to find Mr. Watson guilty."

The key question for jurors to decide, Tisdale said, is "was Mr. Watson insane at the time of the offense? Could Mr. Watson appreciate the criminality of his conduct that day?"

Tisdale said Watson suffered from schizophrenia at the time of the killing, and "he still does today."

Related Joliet Patch coverage:

Harrah's Murder Defendant Was Insane: Public Defenders

Harrah's Murder Defendant Says Jail Food Poisoned

Harrah's Casino Slaying: Wisconsin Victim's Family Sues