Illinois teen, 17-year-old John Granat, charged in parents' beating deaths

By DON BABWIN - Associated Press | AP – 14 hrs ago
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BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. (AP) — Blood splattered the walls, ceiling and floor in the bedroom where a suburban Chicago couple were found dead after their son called 911. The teen told police he'd been home asleep, heard nothing during the brutal beating and awoke to the gruesome scene.

But that story quickly unraveled, investigators said, when they determined that 17-year-old John Granat had been pulled over by police just hours before making the emergency call and none of his friends could vouch for his whereabouts.

Granat was ordered held without bond Tuesday on first-degree murder charges in the deaths of his parents, John Granat, 44, and Maria Granat, 42. The husband and wife were found fatally beaten in their Palos Park home early Sunday.

The high school senior gave "several alibis ... none of which made any sense, none of which turned out to be true," Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart said after the court hearing. He said the teen, an only child, had a strained relationship with his parents and "had made threats to kill them" in the past.
Granat's lawyer denied those claims and, noting the teen's slight form, said his client couldn't have committed such a crime.

"There's no way that that young man could have done that to two human beings," defense attorney Rick Beuke said.

Granat seemed to show no emotion during Tuesday's hearing, remaining calm as the prosecutor recounted grisly details about his parents' death: police found his father on the bedroom floor severely beaten with a fractured jaw and lacerations on his skull and liver; Maria Granat, on the bed soaked in a pool of blood, suffered a fractured skull and stab wounds into her stomach, liver and lung.

The couple appeared to have been hit with such force that blood hit the surrounding walls, Dart said.
"It was almost as if you'd entered another world," the sheriff said, noting that the rest of the house — decorated with Polish mementos and several photographs of Pope John Paul II — was spotless.
The family came to the U.S. from Poland about a decade ago, and a photograph of the couple in traditional Polish dress was part of a makeshift memorial of flowers and candles outside their spacious brick house on Tuesday. Yellow police tape surrounded the home's manicured lawn, where a flagpole displayed the Polish flag beneath an American flag.

Granat told investigators that he got home around 8 p.m. Saturday and went to bed about midnight, choosing to sleep in the basement to seek relief from the heat, Assistant State's Attorney Peter Troy said during the hearing.

The teen said that when he woke up, he went to his parents' bedroom and called 911 just after 7 a.m. after running from the home. In a recording of that call, Granat can be heard telling the emergency dispatcher that his parents "were drowning in their own blood" and that the house had been ransacked.
But a police officer responding to the 911 call quickly recognized Granat as the driver he'd pulled over for a broken tail light about two hours earlier. During the traffic stop, the officer noticed a bottle in the front seat that Granat claimed was a bottle of swimming pool chlorine, Palos Heights Deputy Police Chief Bill Czarkoswski said.

When confronted about that information, Granat changed his story several times, Troy said.
The teen provided names of several friends, claiming he'd been with them the previous night. When he was told those friends denied being with him, Granat said he'd allowed some friends into the house to commit a crime, Dart said.

The sheriff also said the house strongly smelled of ammonia or bleach.

Investigators are still trying to determine where Granat was driving when he was pulled over, Dart said. Authorities have conducted several searches but haven't found a possible murder weapon. The medical examiner's office determined the couple was bludgeoned with a 1-inch diameter object.

There were no signs of forced entry to the home and the father's wallet — containing $1,800 — was on the kitchen counter, Dart said, adding that the teen had $4,000 in cash when police arrived.

Dart also said the teen did landscaping and other chores for his father, who ran a contracting business and managed several properties.

"He (the father) was looking forward to try to involve his son in the family business," Dart said.
Beuke, the teen's defense attorney, promised he wouldn't agree to a plea deal. There were at least a dozen relatives at Tuesday's court hearing, and Beuke said they wouldn't have come had they thought Granat was guilty.

Bueke said the teen had been crying for two days, disputing Dart's claim that Granat was "devoid of emotion" throughout the interview process.

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High School Student Charged With Murdering Parents Denied Bail

By IB Times Staff Reporter | September 14, 2011 7:27 AM EDT
Bond was denied for a Chicago area high school student, John Granat who was charged with murdering his parents, said Cook County Sheriff Thomas Dart.

Granat, 17, is charged with two counts of first-degree murder after his parents John and Maria Granat, 44 and 42 respectively, were found bludgeoned to death in their bed. The bedroom was splattered with blood from ceiling to floor.

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According to prosecutors, the father had his kidney lacerated, jaw broken and teeth knocked out, while the mother had been stabbed repeatedly.

It was Granat who made the 911 call from his family home in the 12700 block of 81st Court in unincorporated Palos Township on Sunday morning, alerting police that his parents were dead. He said he awoke at 7 a.m. and found his family home disheveled. That's when he went upstairs and found his parents. He said he ran from the home and immediately called 911.

However, authorities found no signs of forced entry to the home and Granat told investigators he fell asleep in the basement of the home around 12:30 a.m. and was in the home the entire night.

But the investigation revealed that Palos Heights Police had stopped Granat for a minor traffic offense at 5:17 a.m. at 122nd Street and Harlem Avenue. That led to the first of what would be several conflicting stories Granat gave investigators about his activities in the hours before he called 911.

He finally told investigators a friend had been in need of money and, while Granat was out of the home, he gave the friend permission to enter. Granat said he fell asleep in his car and didn't enter the family home until 7 a.m., when he found his parents dead. But investigators interviewed several friends of Granat's and learned he had previously made multiple threats to kill his parents.

Granat told his friends that he wanted to kill his parents after they learned that he was growing marijuana at their home. The Tribune quoted sources saying that John's parents threw out the drugs shortly before he threatened to kill them for what they had done.

Granat is being temporarily held at Cermak Hospital at the Cook County Jail, where he is undergoing a full physical and psychiatric evaluation, according to the sheriff's officials.

After the bond hearing Tuesday, he was transferred to the Cook County Jail, where he will be held while awaiting trial. Granat's next court hearing is set for Sept. 20.

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Palos Township teen accused of killing parents
Sheriff says 17-year-old's alibis didn't add up

September 13, 2011|By Andy Grimm, Tribune reporter

Weeks before his parents were bludgeoned to death in their bedroom, 17-year-old John Granat told friends he wanted to kill his mother and father after they discovered he was growing marijuana at their home, sources close to the investigation said.

Granat's parents threw out the drugs, and shortly afterward the teenager allegedly told friends that he wanted his mother and father dead for what they had done, sources said.

Granat on Tuesday stood silent in a Cook County courtroom, where Judge Peter Felice ordered him held without bond on two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of his father, John Granat, 44, and mother, 42-year-old Maria Granat.

Wearing a white, jail-issued jumpsuit, the teen swayed as he stood beside his lawyer, listening as prosecutors described the bloody crime scene inside his family's large Palos Township home in the 12700 block of 81st Court. The prosecutors poked holes in Granat's story of how he awoke Sunday morning to find his parents dead in their bedroom.

"It was clear that (Granat) had a difficult relationship with his parents at times and at different times had made threats," Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart said after the hearing. "He had made threats to kill them at times.

"(Granat) gave numerous stories, one after the other, including alibis. None of which made any sense, none of which turned out to be true."

There was no evidence Granat tried to enlist the help of anyone else, sources said. His friends reportedly pleaded with him not to kill his parents, but none of them notified police about the threats, sources said.

The charges were a shock to relatives already reeling from the death of John and Maria Granat, who were part of a large extended family of Polish immigrants. Some 17 aunts and uncles from both sides of the family sat behind Granat in the courtroom gallery. The teen did not make eye contact with them during the 10-minute hearing.

"The reason they're here is because they believe in their nephew's innocence," said attorney Rick Beuke, who said he'd been hired by the family to defend Granat against the murder charges. "That speaks to their confidence that their nephew didn't do this."

Dart said Granat called police about 7 a.m. Sunday, reporting that he had been sleeping in the basement and had awoken to find his parents dead in their bedroom. Granat initially said he had returned home at 8 p.m. Saturday and remained there all night, going to bed sometime after midnight.

But a Palos Heights police officer had pulled the teen over about 5 a.m. Sunday for a broken taillight, and said Granat had a bottle of bleach — "pool chlorine in a plastic bottle" — and $4,000 in cash inside the car. Granat then told investigators he had been out with friends, but none of the friends he named told police they had seen him after 6 p.m. Saturday.

Confronted again, Granat told police he had given a friend who needed money permission to enter the house Saturday night while Granat was out of the house, officials said. Granat said he fell asleep in his car and didn't return home until 7 a.m. Sunday, when he found his parents, authorities said.

Dart said the elder John Granat's wallet was found on the kitchen counter with $1,800 in it, and that other valuables were untouched.

When officers arrived, there was a strong smell of ammonia or bleach, police said. The master bedroom, Dart said, was spattered with blood on the walls, floor and ceiling.

"When you entered (the bedroom) it was almost entering another world," Dart said. "From the nature of the wounds and the nature of the blood, there was a lot of violence in that room."

John Granat lay on the floor, bloodied by massive blows on the head and torso that broke his jaw, knocked out his teeth and lacerated his kidney. On the bed in a pool of blood lay Maria Granat.

To family and neighbors, the Granats seemed the portrait of a close, happy family. The Granat home was picturesque inside and out — the yard meticulously groomed, the interior bedecked with mementos from the family's native Poland, religious images and portraits of Pope John Paul II.

Neighbor Lisa Falkenburg said she was stunned by the charges. Her teenage son is two years younger than John Granat, and was a frequent guest at their house. She still believed someone else was the killer.

"(John) was just the sweetest, nicest kid in the world," she said. "Never, ever in a million years would I have thought that John could do something like that. They were like the role-model family of the area. It doesn't make any sense."

At Stagg High School in Palos Hills on Tuesday, talk of Granat filled the hallways, students said. Many were surprised to hear the news because in class Granat was quiet, reserved and behaved like any teenager, classmates said.

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Teenager from wealthy Chicago suburb charged with 'beating parents to death'
By DAILY MAIL REPORTER
Last updated at 6:10 PM on 13th September 2011

Authorities in suburban Chicago have charged a high school student in the deaths of his parents, who were found beaten in their Palos Park home.

Accused: John Granat, 17, is charged with two counts of first-degree murder

The Cook County medical examiner on Monday ruled that 42-year-old Maria Granat and 44-year-old John Granat died after suffering multiple blunt force injuries.
Maria Granat was also stabbed.

They were pronounced dead early Sunday in their southwest suburban Chicago home.

Authorities say the couple's son, 17-year-old John Granat, has been arrested and is now charged with first-degree murder in their deaths.

Police haven't revealed a motive for the killings.
An autopsy revealed Mr and Mrs Granat were found dead in their bedroom with Mr Granat dying from blunt force trauma to his head.

His wife was also beaten as well as being stabbed repeatedly.

Speaking to the Chicago Tribune neighbour Linda Falkenburg said she was shocked to find detectives in the garden on Sunday.

She said the Falkenburgs were: 'The sweetest, most perfect family.

'I feel like I just lost a family member.

'I can't imagine why anyone would do something like this.'

A Facebook page believed to belong to Granat lists controversial metal band Slipknot and Jackass 3D among his favourite films and music.

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I am thinking he had to have attacked them while they slept. Father was a strong man and both parents young enough to have put up a fight if they were awake.

Teen used hammer to kill parents
BY STEVE METSCH [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] September 14, 2011 4:30PM
Updated: September 14, 2011 7:18PM

John Granat, the Stagg High School senior charged with first-degree murder in the slaying of his parents in their home in unincorporated Palos Township, used a hammer to beat them, a police source said Wednesday.

The injuries suffered by Granat’s parents, John and Maria Granat, were so severe that investigators initially thought they had been shot, the source said.

Police believe Granat’s mother was sleeping when he attacked her in his parents’ bedroom late Saturday or early Sunday in the family’s home in the 12700 block of 81st Court near Palos Park.

The Cook County medical examiner ruled that both parents died after suffering multiple blunt force injuries. Maria Granat also suffered stab wounds.

Police believe the violent attack awakened Granat’s father, the source said. But the elder Granat “didn’t have much of a chance,” the source said. “It (the attack) was very brutal.”

The younger Granat apparently was angry because his father had destroyed marijuana plants the teen was growing in the home, the source said.

“It was a falling out over that,” the source said.

Another source close to the investigation confirmed the confrontation over the marijuana plants, but said it took place several days earlier. Police said Granat had threatened his parents’ lives before the slaying.

Police also are investigating the possibility that Granat had been using steroids, muscle-enhancing drugs associated with violent outbursts of rage, the first source said.

Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart said investigators were looking into it after being told Granat recently had started weightlifting. In his holding cell after he was arrested, Granat was doing push-ups and asked about using a gym, a source said.

A grand jury has been interviewing the youth’s friends and associates.

The couple were found dead in their home after John Granat called 911 at 7:12 a.m. Sunday from the house, police said.

He told investigators several stories about what happened Saturday night and Sunday morning, including that he had stayed home the entire night and slept in the basement. But things began to crumble when it was determined that Palos Heights police had stopped Granat for a broken taillight at 5:17 a.m. Sunday at 122nd Street and Harlem Avenue.

In the car was a bottle of ammonia or bleach in the back seat. The house smelled of ammonia or bleach when police entered Sunday morning. A police source said there is a surveillance tape of Granat buying undetermined items at a nearby 24-hour Wal-Mart.

Granat is being held without bail at Cook County Jail. He is due in court Tuesday.

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Teen talked of killing parents
Wednesday, September 14, 2011 4:29 PM

CHICAGO, Sept. 14 (UPI) -- An Illinois teen accused of killing his parents told friends he wanted his parents dead after they destroyed his marijuana plants, the Chicago Tribune reported.

The parents of John Granat, 17, allegedly discovered several weeks ago that the Palos Township teen had been growing marijuana in their home, a source close to the investigation told the newspaper.

Granat was ordered held without bond Tuesday in the deaths of his parents, John and Maria Granat, whose bludgeoned bodies were found Sunday morning in the bedroom of their large suburban home, the Tribune said.

Cook County Sheriff Dart said Granat offered several conflicting alibis to his location prior to his parents' deaths.

"It was clear that [Granat] had a difficult relationship with his parents at times and at different times had made threats," Dart said after Tuesday's hearing. "[Granat] gave numerous stories, one after the other, including alibis. None of which made any sense, none of which turned out to be true."

The Tribune's sources said his friends pleaded with the teen him not to kill his parents.

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