Jury Selection Starts For Former Soldier Charged With 6-Year-old Murder

Jury selection started for a former soldier charged with murdering his uncle more than six years ago.

Jason Gonzalez, 29, declined to have a public defender represent him at his trial and is handling the case on his own.

When prospective jurors were brought into Will County Judge Edward Burmila’s courtroom Monday morning, Gonzalez was not provided a belt or shoelaces, and he was not wearing a jacket. He was permitted to put on a necktie. Gonzalez’s legal papers were stored in a clear plastic garbage bag.

Judge Burmila allowed Gonzalez to greet the jury pool but didn’t let him say much.

“Good morning ladies and gentleman, I’m Jason Gonzalez and I’m obviously the criminal defendant in this case,” Gonzalez said on his way to saying more, before Burmila cut in with: “Mr. Gonzalez, you don’t have to make a speech. Can you sit down please?”

Gonzalez has been jailed since September 2009 on charges he murdered his uncle Lance Goebel. Gonzalez allegedly shot Goebel numerous times with a 9-mm handgun, then stole $1,000 and his uncle’s Chevy HHR. The vehicle was later located about a mile from Goebel’s residence outside New Lenox.

Goebel’s wife found her husband dead in the home. Several days later, the police caught Gonzalez sleeping in his mother’s 1997 Saturn, which he reportedly borrowed from her shortly before the killing. Gonzalez was parked behind a bush on Larkin Avenue in Joliet, police said.

Gonzalez had lived with Goebel but his uncle kicked him out not long before the murder, police said. In between his departure from his uncle’s home and the killing, Gonzalez sent an email to an aunt living in Seattle and told her he was going to “get even” with Goebel, according to court papers.

Gonzalez was stationed in Guantanamo Bay during his eight months in the Army in 2005 and 2006. His time in the military was cut short when he was discharged for medical reasons, according to a filing that claimed Gonzalez was “given a diagnosis of personality disorder with passive aggressive and borderline features.”

The filing also said that prior to his discharge, Gonzalez suffered from “major depressive disorder, moderate severe, single episode, though complicated by longer-standing personality traits.”

Gonzalez faces 45 years to life in prison.

Before the prospective jurors were led into the courtroom, one of them, retired Will County Judge Rodney Lechwar, was excused. Assistant State’s Attorney Fred Harvey, who is prosecuting Gonzalez, pointed out that he tried cases before Lechwar. Judge Burmila noted that he and Lechwar worked together “for more years than I care to remember.”

Burmila also brought up that Lechwar’s son, Matthew Lechwar, appeared before him as a defendant on “multiple cases.”