Burge victim: ‘He laughed while he was torturing me’
BY NATASHA KORECKI Federal Courts Reporternkorecki@suntimes.com January 20, 2011 4:17PM
Updated: August 4, 2011 4:20PM
Anthony Holmes walked just inches from the onetime Chicago police commander he says still haunts his dreams.
He wouldn’t look at Jon Burge Thursday, now three decades older, now at the defendant’s table in a federal courtroom facing punishment for his own crimes.
In 1973, Burge suffocated Holmes with a bag, shocked him and forced him to sign a murder confession that put Holmes in prison for nearly 30 years, Holmes said.
“What I wanted to ask Burge ... why did you do this? Why would you take a statement you knew was not true?” said Holmes, who testified for the prosecution. “You were supposed to be the law.”
Leaning back in his chair, the burly, white-haired 63-year-old Burge looked right at Holmes during his testimony.
Holmes stopped occasionally to sigh deeply and blink back tears.
“He tried to kill me,” Holmes said. He said Burge looked as if he were enjoying himself. “He laughed while he was torturing me.”
Holmes was one of five witnesses prosecutors called to testify on Thursday, the first day of a lengthy sentencing hearing for Burge.
Though Burge was convicted of perjury and obstruction of justice, prosecutors sought to show that his treatment of African American suspects from the 1970s until he was fired in 1993 has left an indelible mark on the Chicago Police Department and on an already segregated city.
Witnesses spoke of how Chicago still today struggles to overcome the reputation from Burge-era torture of black suspects.
University of Chicago historian Adam Green said unless the behavior is punished, a community that has a severe distrust of authority would never heal.
“It reaffirms a sense that everybody who is part of that community is understood to be a human being,” Green said.
Green spoke of how torture was about someone trying to demonstrate “total power” and “supremacy.”
The packed courtroom grew tense as Burge’s defense lawyer described how two officers were executed by Andrew and Jackie Wilson; how one officer was shot in the head, how the other was shot in the chest.
The two were left to “bleed out,” Burge attorney Rick Beuke said.
Beuke then asked the historian if that, too, was about someone showing his supremacy and power.
Burge slowly shook his head at the answer.
“That is a matter for a court of law to address,” Green said.
Assistant U.S. Attorney April Perry posed another question to Green: Did the horrible acts against two police officers: “change the importance of the role of police being the good guys?”
“Absolutely not,” Green said.
Burge was fired from the force because of his treatment of Andrew Wilson, who was convicted of the murders.
Burge’s sentencing, before U.S. District Judge Lefkow, drew more than 100 people Thursday, with a line that wound down the federal courthouse hallway. It was under tight security, with observers having to pass through security before entering the courtroom.
While Lefkow ruled that Burge could face a range of 21 to 27 months for lying and obstructing justice, prosecutors are asking she add time because of years of torture.
Among the witnesses was onetime cop Sam Lacey, an African American, who said he wasn’t assigned to a homicide case until Burge left a high-ranking position in his district.
At this, Burge flushed and laughed, his hands folded before him. He leaned over and whispered to his lawyers, seemingly in protest.
Lacey said Burge was considered part of what was known as the “A-Team.” Burge shot a questionable glance at his lawyers when Lacey explained what that meant:
“The a -- kicking team.”
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