04/09/08
Thrill Kill Murder
Michigan
Jean Pierre Orlewicz is charged with first-degree murder, felony murder and mutilation of a dead body in the death of Daniel Sorensen, a 26-year-old River Rouge man who died Nov. 7, 2007.
His partner in crime, Alexander Letkemann eventually turned on his cohort and pleaded to
second-degree murder and disinterment and mutilation of a dead body. His sentence is set for April 23, 2008.
Defense attorney Joseph Niskar called Sorensen’s death an act of self-defense and a case of panic in its aftermath.
Reports say that Sorenson was lured to Orlewicz's grandfather's garage, where a tarp and cleaning supplies had be gathered. As he walked through the garage door Orlewicz stabbed him over and over as his friend Alexander Letkemann watched and supported his actions.
Orlewicz then removed his head, and took a blowtorch to Daniel's hands and feet in an attempt to hide Daniel's identity.
The torso was dumped at a construction site and set afire. His head was dropped into a local river. His torso was discovered the following day. His head was recovered a few days later, from the river.
The trial started Monday afternoon, and is expected to last well into next week
More articles and resources....
http://www.hometownlife.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080408/NEWS24/80408008
http://news-of-the-web.blogspot.com/2007/11/daniel-sorensen.html
http://pysih.com/2007/11/14/alexander-james-letkemann-and-jean-pierre-orlewicz/
The Look out?
A third person, Alex Mullins, came forward last week and confessed that he was supposed to be the look out while the other two were in the garage killing Sorensen. He Testified in court on Tuesday.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080409/NEWS02/804090408/1004
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080409/NEWS02/804090408/0/NEWS03
UPDATES
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05/12/08
Sentencing
Life With No Parole
An evil minded young man, Jean Pierre Orlewicz, was sentenced, today, to life in prison without the possibility of parole, for the stabbing, beheading, death of Daniel Sorensen.
Judge Annette Berry called him evil during the 30 minute hearing this morning. “I am grateful that you are going away for the rest of your life,” Berry said. “Because in my view, I believe you would have killed again.”
Orlewicz lured his friend Daniel Sorensen to a Canton home on Nov. 7 before slitting his throat from behind and stabbing him 12 more times in the garage. He subsequently beheaded him with a hack saw and burned his fingertips with a blow torch.
Orlewicz did not address the court when he had the chance.
Resources...
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080512/NEWS02/80512009/1004/NEWS
YouTube has videos of the trial.....
http://youtube.com/user/RealityCanBeEvil
Thanks for the tip Minnesota :)
04/24/08
Letkemann Sentenced
The sentencing of a convicted accomplice in the slaying and beheading of a River Rouge man Wednesday brought out words of sorrow from parents and angry bewilderment from a Wayne County Circuit judge.
Alexander Letkemann, 18, of Westland, was sentenced to 20-30 years in prison for his role in what prosecutors have labeled the "thrill kill" of Daniel Sorensen, 26.
During sentencing, Wayne County Circuit Judge Annette Berry called in beyond comprehension that Letkemann knew about the planned killing, helped prepare for it, did nothing to stop it and did not report it after it happened.
Read resource details...
http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/15767851/detail.html?rss=det&psp=news
04/19/08
Jury Foreman Speaks Out
Jerry Maksion was the jury foreman on the Jean Pierre Orlewicz trial. The 22 year old Eastern Michigan University student, who studies marketing and criminal justice, spoke to local channel 4 in Detroit about his thinking and decisions about the trial.
Maksion told Local 4, “There was definitely I think, a plot behind it. And I don’t think it was just a thrill kill. I don’t know what possessed him to chop a head off and burn the fingers. But, like I said that’s the part of it I think was premeditated.”
“The most interesting part would probably be when he (Orlewicz) had to take the stand. Because it came to the point that so much evidence was against him, that we wanted to hear from him,” Maksion said.
Read story details...
http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/15917509/detail.html
04/16/08
Guilty On ALL Counts! Verdict
Jurors did not look at anyone as they filed into the courtroom. The parents of Daniel Sorensen wept as the verdict was read that Jean Pierre Orlewicz was pronounced guilty on all counts, first-degree murder, felony murder and mutilation.
Orlewicz had very little reaction, which has been his demeanor throughout the trial.
His sentencing is set for May 12th.
Read CNN details.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/04/15/orlewicz.verdict/index.html
04/16/08
11:48 am PDT
I thought there would be a fairly quick verdict in this case, but the jury is still deliberating at this point.
Wayne County Circuit Judge Annette J. Berry sent the jury of eight men and four women home at 5 p.m. Tuesday, after nearly four hours of deliberations in the first-degree murder trial of Jean Pierre Orlewicz, 18. The trial began April 7.
Around 4 p.m. Tuesday, during deliberations, jurors asked Berry to explain the difference in penalties between first- and second-degree murder. Berry told them it was improper to consider the penalties and to only consider the evidence.
First-degree murder carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison, while second-degree is punishable by any sentence up to life.
Read resource details...
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080416/NEWS02/804160411
04/15/08
Case goes to the jury
It's up to the jury to decide whether JP Orlewicz committed the perfect crime, that the defendant had bragged to his friends he could do, according to testimony.
Orlewitz defense attorney , James C. Thomas told the jury that Orlewicz, 18, acted in selfdefense because Daniel Sorensen pulled a gun on him and his friend during an extortion plot gone wrong.
Orlewicz panicked after the murder and sawed off Sorensen's head because he feared the man was a well-connected enforcer with Mafia ties, Thomas said.
Read more of todays closing....
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080415/METRO/804150420/1410/METRO01
04/14/08
JP Orlewicz Testifies
At approximately 2:20 pm EDT Jean Pierre took the stand in his own defense.
He described Dan Sorensen as the Boss. He said Sorensen was cool because he could buy beer and weed.
JP testified that Sorensen owed him $400 and he was trying to get his money back, because he wanted to buy his girlfriend a nice gift. He claimed that Sorensen threatened to kill him and his girlfriend.
Orlewicz testified that he thought Sorensen had ties to the Mafia.
At one point Sorensen paid back $80 of his debt, saying he was a man of his word and always honors his debts.
Orlewicz claimed that Sorensen had said he shot people, stole cars, and did a variety of other crimes. When asked why he hung around with him Orlewicz replied "Because I though he was cool."
He testified that Adam Duwe owed him $500 and he passed the word onto Sorensen. Dan said he had a $3000 he needed to clear up. JP wanted to get his $500 from Duwe but Sorensen wanted to extort more.
Orlewicz claims that the idea of the extortion was Dan Sorensen's and that they laid out different props that would look scary to Duwe when he came in, like hack saws, latex gloves and rope. He also claimed that Sorensen was the one who told him to buy the props.
The plan for extortion was originally set up for November 6th.
Orlewicz said Alex Letkemann was there just to be an extra. He called Adam Duwe while Sorensen and Letkemann were there to see why he hadn't shown up yet, but Duwe said he was at a funeral and would meet up with them the next day.
Orlewicz claims there was never a gun other than the one Sorensen brought with him. Sorensen was dressed in a three piece suit to look the part of a Mafia figure.
He claimed Sorensen was "pissed" that Duwe wasn't going to show up.
They made arrangements to meet the next day. They met up about 3:40 pm on the 7th of November, 2007.
He claims that he told Alex that they needed to scrap the idea because the situation was getting out of hand, and that Dan was taking control.
He said that Sorensen was angry when he found out that Duwe wasn't going to be there for the second day in a row. Orlewicz claimed that Dan pulled out a gun and was angrily waving a gun around. While pointing a gun at Alex Letkemann, Orlewicz came from behind and stabbed Sorensen to protect his friend.
He stabbed him several times until he was dead.
Orlewicz said he disposed of the body because he didn't want Sorensen's family to come kill him.
He claims he severed the head to hide Sorensen's identity.
Orlewicz testified he called his best friend "Izzy" to help him. Between Izzy, Alex, and himself, they loaded Sorensen's body in the truck. Izzy left and he and Alex left in the pick-up truck.
He set Sorensen's torso, wrapped in the tarp, on fire.
The prosecution cross examined Orlewicz.
Orlewicz was cross examined about his friendships with Duwe, and "Izzy" who had been best friends with him through out the years.
Orlewicz called his friends liars and drug addicts. He claimed he never had a gun, yet all of his friends testified he had a gun.
He claimed that Sorensen was going to kill him, and his whole family back in 2006, yet he became friends with him again in August of 2007.
He told the prosecution that it was both he and Sorensen's idea to extort Duwe.
The prosecution pointed out calls that Orlewicz made to Alex Mullins, even though he had denied it before on November 6th.
They discussed the events of November 7th, the day of the killing.
He claimed that Sorensen pointed the gun at Letkemann and he jumped on his back, put his arm around his neck, and stabbed him 13 times. (or more)
The prosecution said that Orlewicz had no broken bones, or injuries after stabbing Sorensen the 13 times, and who had several more inches in height, and at least a 100 lbs on Orlewicz.
Prosecution pointed out that after saving both his own life, and the life of his friend Letkemann, he didn't call the police to say he just killed someone in self defense.
They described disposing of the body and the clean up of the garage. Orlewicz admitted he got rid of Sorensen's truck and took his gun. The following day, they needed to get rid of the head and dispose of other evidence.
Prosecution went over the testimony of his friend, Adam Duwe, who said that Orlewicz knew that Sorensen wasn't in the Mafia. Orlewicz claims he thought Sorensen was in the Mafia. The prosecution pointed out his so-called mafia friend had not paid him the $400 in over a year, and that his parents worked and lived in a modest home.
Orlewicz said he lied to the police because he thought they couldn't help him.
The defense re-examined Orlewicz, trying to show to the jury that Orlewicz felt out of control of the situation, and was in fear.
------------------
Earlier in the day, his father, William Orlewicz, took the stand today and described his son as compassionate and non-violent, adding he had never been in a fight in his life.
"It seems so far out of character that it's hard to believe," said William Orlewicz about the allegations.
During cross-examination, Assistant Wayne County Prosecutor Robert Moran played a series of profanity-laced tirades by Orlewicz as he spoke to his parents on a Wayne County jail phone. Moran played the tapes to refute testimony from William Orlewicz that he had not talked about the case with his son.
In one of the conversations, Orlewicz told his dad: “I’ve been in here for five (expletive) months, going to the law library and (expletive). I’ve got nothing to do but think about my (expletive) case.”
In another conversation, Jean Pierre Orlewicz said: “I'm not doing any time so make sure Jim (expletive) knows that,” referring to his lawyer James Thomas. “I want to (expletive) fire Jim and not talk to you people ever again."
Orlewicz’s father said he didn't know his son drank alcohol, used drugs or carried a gun.
“His friends seemed like average kids,” William Orlewicz said. “They were into music and their cars. They seemed to be normal teenagers.”
Court closed early after JP Orlewicz's testimony. (NLH)
Other resources for earlier testimony...
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080414/NEWS02/80414027/&imw=Y
04/10/08
The perfect Crime
A juror, who's a medical sales representative, realized that he had a work relationship with JP Orlewicz cousin, Mark Orlewicz.
He told the judge that he didn't know whether he could remain impartial, as they've been in each others home.
“I’ve got to be honest,” the juror said. “If I saw Mark it would be hard to look him in the eye.”
The juror was dismissed from his duties, leaving the remaining 9 men and 4 women to adjudicate the case.
Several friends testified about Orlewicz saying he wanted to kill Sorensen, but the friend who stood out the most was Adam Duwe. This was the young man who Orlewicz and Sorensen were supposedly going to "set up" that fateful day to extort money. The one that was being "set up" was Sorensen... for murder.
Duwe talked about how Orlewicz talked about different scenarios for the perfect crime. He felt he could get away with the perfect crime.
He also described a time when Orlewicz played Russian roulette with a gun.
Investigators, a computer expert, and a DNA expert testified in later afternoon. Each had discussed how through their particular evidence collections and testing showed the connection to Orlewicz.
For today's trial details read here....
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080410/NEWS04/80410088
http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Top_News/2008/04/10/witness_defendant_played_russian_roulette/1741/
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080410/NEWS04/80410088
04/09/09
Accomplice Testifies
The majority of the day was taken up with testimony from Alexander Letkemann, 18, who pleaded to second-degree murder to avoid a mandatory life sentence on the first-degree charge.
Letkemann said that Orlewicz told him that he would dismiss a $100 debt Letkemann owed him, if he would help clean up the scene of a planned murder that he was going to commit on Daniel Sorensen. Letkemann called it a serious misjudgment that he stood by as his friend slit a man’s throat and repeatedly stabbed him to death.
Letkemann said Orlewicz was angry at Sorensen, and lured him to his grandfather's Canton Township garage with a story about another teen who had come into some inheritance. Sorensen, Letkemann said, planned to use an unloaded handgun to frighten and extort $3,000 from the other youth.
Letkemann said the pair first talked about the plan Nov. 5 and Orlewicz wanted to kill Sorensen the next day. But he called off the plan after noticing that Sorensen’s girlfriend dropped him off at the Canton home, Letkemann said.
He said the JP (Orlewicz nick-name) picked him up the next day and drove to JP's grandfather's house. (It's reported that his grandfather had severe Alzheimer's decease).
The scene in the garage was set. A large blue tarp was spread out on the garage floor, and a smaller tarp covered the garage window. Cleaning supplies, including Draino was available.
According to his testimony, Sorensen arrived around 3:30 pm. Orlewicz Jumped him from behind as he walked into the garage and slashed his throat.
“Dan was trying to sit up. He kept trying to say things and JP just kept stabbing him,” Letkemann said.
Letkemann continued to testify about the gorey details including describing Orlewicz using a hack saw to cut of Sorensen's head.
Sorensen's parents wept and comforted each other throughout his testimony.
At one point, the judge, Annette J. Berry hastily ordered a lunch break after noticing a female juror overwhelmed with Letkemann's descriptions of the crime.
IMO the defense did a lousy job trying to discredit Letkemann, asking irrelevant questions over and over until he totally ticked the judge off. I wonder if the defense thought about how he was coming across to the jury. It certainly didn't sit well with me as Juror Thirteen.(NLH)
Resources... me... and.....
http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/15813723/detail.html
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080409/NEWS03/80409037
http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080409/METRO/804090457