Trial of 'golden boy' lawyer accused in wife's death ends with hung jury
A former prosecutor who was once captain of the University of Illinois football team will face a retrial in the alleged suffocation of his first wife.
The Quincy, Illinois, trial of lawyer Curtis Lovelace ended with a hung jury on Friday, report the Herald-Whig, WGEM, People magazine and the Chicago Tribune.
People describes Lovelace as a “local golden boy” who was accused in 2014 of suffocating his wife in 2006. Curtis was a former assistant state’s attorney in Adams County and a former captain in the Illinois National Guard, where he defended soldiers facing disciplinary actions.
Juror Susie Koontz told the Herald-Whig that “most everyone felt he was guilty,” but some jurors felt the proof was lacking. They deliberated for 16 hours over two days.
Prosecutors claimed Lovelace had killed his wife, Cory, with a pillow up to 12 hours before he said he discovered her body at about 9 a.m. on Valentine’s Day 2006. Prosecutors said the science of rigor mortis supported their theory.
A coroner had originally found that the cause of death was undetermined, but an expert hired by the prosecution said the likely cause was suffocation, given deathbed photos showing Cory Lovelace’s arms were raised and bent, People reports, relying on coverage by the Herald-Whig.
The defense contradicted the theory with statements given by three of the couple’s children to a detective two days after the body was found. In the statements, the children said they had seen their mother alive at about 8:15 a.m. on Valentine’s Day. Curtis said he discovered his wife dead after he took the children to school that morning.
At trial, the children said they don’t remember giving those statements to the detective.
The defense contended that Cory Lovelace had died as a result of bulimia and alcoholism.
Lovelace’s second wife was a potential witness for prosecutors, but a judge last month refused prosecutors’ request to allow her testimony, according to the Chicago Tribune. According to People, Lovelace’s third wife “stood by his side during his ordeal and throughout the murder trial.”
