Killer of 5 Now On Parole And Living In La Grange

LA GRANGE, IL — A man convicted of murdering five people in 1972 has now listed his current address in La Grange. Carl Reimann was 31 when he killed five people in Yorkville's Pine Village Steakhouse.

Reimann, now 77, was released late Thursday after the prison review board voted 8-4 in favor of granting him parole.

According to the Illinois State Police Murderer and Violent Offender Against Youth Registry, Reimann is living in the 700 block of South Seventh Street. His residence is less than half a mile from Sedgwick Park, a few buildings away from Seventh Avenue School, and a mile from Gurrie Middle School, according to Google Maps.

According to the registry, the sheriff of the county, except Cook County, will tell school boards, library, and child care facilities the name, address, date of birth, place of employment, school attended, and offense or adjudication of all violent offenders against youth. However, La Grange is located in Cook County.

The Illinois Department of Corrections listed him as "out of custody" with a parole discharge date of September 2039. He had been incarcerated since June 18, 1973, walking free after just shy of 45 years in prison.

On Dec. 29, 1979, Reimann and his then-girlfriend Betty Piche, walked into Pine Village Steakhouse. Five people were inside the restaurant when the pair walked in, according to court documents. Once inside, Reimann pulled a gun and Piche took money from the cash register.

During the robbery, a family walked into the Pine Village and were told that if they sat down they wouldn't be harmed, court documents note. But before Piche and Reimann left, Reimann "methodically, carefully and slowly shot and killed" the five people originally at the restaurant. The family was spared when Reimann ran out of ammunition, according to Kendall County Now.

The dead were Pine Village employees George T. Pashade, 74, of Aurora, John H. Wilson, 48, of North Aurora and Catherine M. Rekate, 16, of Plano; along with patrons Robert E. Loftus, 48, of Bristol and David M. Gardner, 35, of Yorkville.

Piche and Reimann fled the scene but were spotted by Catherine Rekate's father, who saw that Piche was wearing a blonde wig as the two fled the Pine Village. They were apprehended within minutes of the murders. The wig was found near their car, and the gun was still in their possession, but had been reloaded.

In 1973, Reimann was sentenced to 150 years for each murder and 60 years for the armed robbery. Piche was sentenced as an accomplice in the crimes and paroled in 1983. She died in 2004.

Due to Illinois sentencing laws at the time of the killings, Reimann was eligible for parole. Under stricter sentencing laws passed after his conviction, Kendall County State's Attorney Eric Weis told the Daily Chronicle, Reimann would be serving natural life in prison had he committed the crimes today.

Patch editor Shannon Antinori contributed to this report.

Image: Carl Reimann's most recent IDOC photo/Illinois Department of Corrections