GUILTY IL - Mildred 'Dodie' Darrington, 85, stabbed to death, East Dundee, 18 July 2014

According to court records, despite his financial troubles, Schmelzer — who is married with children — had sent more than $50,000 to a Las Vegas escort he had met online in December 2013... Financial records indicate that Schmelzer had also wired money to several other women, as recently as July 2014...

Investigators said that on July 18, hours after Darrington’s body was found, Schmelzer was seen on surveillance video at a Texas restaurant having dinner with a friend. When that friend was located and interviewed, police said he was “evasive” in his answers about his or Schmelzer’s whereabouts at the time of the murder.

Investigators learned that the man had rented a vehicle in Texas on July 17 and that the car was returned on July 19. During that time, 1,920 miles were put on the vehicle, and it was spotted on I-355 near Boughton Road in Illinois around 2:33 a.m. July 18 after receiving a toll violation. Multiple phone calls were made between the two men during this time.

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A 41-year-old Texas man pleaded not guilty in Kane County court Thursday to charges he killed his grandmother in July at her East Dundee home.

Richard Schmelzer, of Frisco, a Dallas suburb, is being held at the Kane County jail on $5 million bail and faces up to 60 years in prison if convicted of murdering Mildred "Dodie" Darrington, 85, who was found stabbed to death in her home on the 100 block of Aldis Lane.

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A pool of at least three dozen people took their place in Judge Linda Abrahamson's courtroom Monday morning to begin the jury selection portion of Richard Schmelzer's trial in the 2014 East Dundee murder of Mildred Darrington.

Schmelzer, Darrington's grandson, has pleaded not guilty to stabbing the 85-year-old woman inside her home as part of what prosecutors allege to be a plan to obtain his portion of her estimated $800,000 estate, according to court documents. Prosecutors are expected to outline Schmelzer's financial motive during the trial, which is likely to last at least two weeks.

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Poloway opened testimony Tuesday afternoon as the first witness for prosecutors in the trial of Richard Schmelzer, who has pleaded not guilty to Darrington's murder. Assistant State's Attorney Bill Engerman outlined the case against Schmelzer by saying financial motives led him to take a "cross country trip to kill his grandmother." Schmelzer's attorney, Joshua Dieden, countered by calling the state's case "circumstantial" and failing to answer who killed Darrington.

"The state is going to ask you to do their work for them and fill in a lot of holes," Dieden said. "The death of an 85-year-old woman is a horrible tragedy, but you have to remain focused. We believe you can give Rich a fair trial. Rich is here fighting for his life.

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Schmelzer devised a plan to get his share of Darrington's approximately $800,000 estate, Engerman explained. It involved a road trip from Texas to Illinois with a disposable cell phone, a prepaid American Express card with $260 on it and a Ford Focus rented by his cousin — all of which left a digital trail along the route that included stops for gas in Oklahoma and a drive-thru meal in Downstate Collinsville. That path also shows the Focus committing an early morning toll violation on Interstate 355 and a trip to a gas station in Sleepy Hollow, three miles from Darrington's home about four hours before she was discovered by Poloway, Engerman explained.

"You put all those dots together and you see where he went," Engerman offered. "That phone ... it didn't stay in Frisco, Texas ... it moved to East Dundee, Illinois."

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Investigators from the Kane County Major Crimes Task force wanted to set up an interview with Richard Schmelzer before he could return to Texas, said South Elgin Detective Brian Polkinghorn.

By the time police were finished with the interview on July 24, 2014, police were ready to arrest Schmelzer in the murder of his grandmother, Mildred Darrington, 85, on July 18 in East Dundee.

On Wednesday, the second day of Schmelzer's murder trial, the jury heard much of that 2 1/2 hour interview with police.

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One day earlier, Kratz rented a car for Schmelzer — to whom he is related by marriage — under the impression Schmelzer would be using it for a road trip to Arizona to talk with his father. Instead, as the pair ate together on a Friday night in July 2014, Schmelzer briefly described a different journey.

"Rich indicated he did not go to see his father; he went to Illinois," Kratz testified Thursday during the fourth day of Schmelzer's trial in the murder of Schmelzer's grandmother, Mildred Darrington. "I was caught off guard."

Schmelzer told Kratz he had gone to visit a friend at a park but offered no details, Kratz explained to jurors before continuing on with what Schmelzer revealed next.

"He told me he learned his grandma was deceased, that she had been stabbed in the neck," Kratz said in an even tone that prevailed during his testimony. "I was shocked. I was scared."

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Angela "Angie" Schmelzer said she had been somewhat estranged from her son for some time before the death of her mother, Mildred "Dodie" Darrington.

"I loved him, but I did not like him," Angie Schmelzer said on the stand Friday, under cross-examination by the defense attorney for her son, Richard Schmelzer.

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Darrington doted on Schmelzer, said his younger sister, Kim.

She was never jealous of the relationship her brother and her grandmother had, Kim Schmelzer said. Their grandmother would give both of them small amounts of cash from time to time — in a card or just because, Kim Schmelzer said.

"My grandmother was old-school German," she said, and the man always came first. She was used to it, she said.

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Another side of Richard Schmelzer's life came into focus Tuesday as prosecutors called a professional escort to testify during the seventh day of Schmelzer's murder trial.

Carmen Ward-Hagains told jurors she carried on a "client-provider" relationship with Schmelzer from late 2013 until July 2014.

"I could estimate $20-25,000," Ward-Hagains said when asked by Assistant State's Attorney Kelley Flinn how much money Schmelzer paid her.

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Also Tuesday, an evidence technician returned to the witness stand to offer further description of Darrington's home, which showed no signs of forced entry or a robbery. Investigator Rusty Sullivan also noted no blood splatter or drops were found in Darrington's bedroom, and that police found what appeared to be impressions made by a glove on the door connecting the house and garage.

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Assistant State's Attorney Bill Engerman walked Jennifer Schmelzer through questions detailing her various discoveries that something might not have been right between 2010 and 2014: Foreclosure action on the family's five-bedroom home after years without any mortgage payments being made; maxed out credit cards; phone bills with late-night calls to Las Vegas; unpaid bills to doctors and a roofer; missing retirement money.

With hindsight brought to the forefront, her voice would drop lower each time she acknowledged trusting her husband's handling of the money and explanation for her concerns.

"I felt he could do it," she said of Richard Schmelzer's managing of the mortgage and bills. "We didn't have any problems in Illinois."

She now knows differently. Jennifer Schmelzer filed for bankruptcy, is entangled with the IRS over thousands of dollars withdrawn without her knowledge from a retirement account and continues to fight to keep her home, she testified.

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Jennifer Schmelzer's testimony also recounted how Richard sounded "calm" when she finally spoke to him the day of Darrington's death to tell him to call his sister. On the drive from Texas to Illinois for the funeral, she said he consoled their daughters at times, while spending other moments on the phone making arrangements to meet with the attorney who handled Darrington's estate — with the latter prompting her to ask whether doing so was appropriate given the immediate circumstances.

"He said he needed to get the ball rolling" because of his upcoming work schedule, she explained.

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On Wednesday, the eighth day of Schmelzer's trial on charges he murdered Darrington, his 85-year-old grandmother, Kane County prosecutors used the testimony of American Express Senior Special Agent Christine Kulagowski to map out the card's travels from the time Schmelzer bought and loaded the "Happy Birthday" themed card with $260 in Frisco, Texas, on July 17, 2014 until its final purchases on July 19, 2014 the day after Darrington was found fatally stabbed inside her East Dundee home.

Jurors followed along on a spreadsheet displayed on a TV monitor as Kulagowski described the card first being used to buy gas in Frisco just after noon on July 17. Five hours later, another gas purchase was made in Oklahoma, followed by a stop at McDonald's in Downstate Collinsville around 11 p.m. and then just after 3 a.m. on July 18 at a Thornton's in West Dundee. Darrington failed to show up for her standing 9 a.m. hair appointment that day, which prompted her hairdresser to go to Darrington's house to check on her.

After seven hours with no activity, the card was used again for gas around 10:15 a.m. in Missouri and one last time that day just before 2:30 p.m. in Oklahoma, Kulagowski explained.

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What prosecutors don't have is any physical evidence — fingerprints, blood or DNA — that put the 44-year-old man into Mildred Darrington's house when she was stabbed to death sometime before her body was found in bed on July 18, 2014.

On the stand Thursday, lab technicians from the Illinois State Police Rockford Crime lab described the items they were asked to check for fingerprints or other physical evidence but came up empty.

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Other testimony Thursday included a radio access network technician from AT&T, who explained how cellphone towers work and what data the cellphone provider captures from each phone call. The technician had two phones to track — Schmelzer's personal cellphone and a disposable cellphone he purchased in Texas.

Prosecutors are expected to rest either Friday or Monday with testimony from two U.S. Marshals. They are expected to tie much of the cell phone and credit card records together, according to Kane County Assistant States Attorney Bill Engerman.

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During testimony in the murder trial Friday, investigators explained how they subpoenaed Richard Schmelzer's cellphone records and discovered a "burner phone" he purchased on July 16, 2014.

They found a number Schmelzer called from his cellphone regularly — up to 20 times — before the discovery of his grandmother, Mildred Darrington, stabbed to death... Those calls suddenly stopped, so investigators tracked that number and found it belonged to Schmelzer's cousin by marriage, Kevin Kratz.

Kratz' phone — also subpoenaed — showed a flurry of calls to an unknown number during the same time. That number was later discovered to be a "burner" cellphone purchased by Schmelzer...

Once investigators had a phone number, they were able to obtain a court order to see the records for that burner cellphone, which showed it connecting from cellphone towers on July 17 and 18, 2014. Those cellular towers started in Texas, continued through the middle of the country, and up to the East Dundee area before returning to Texas...

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Flatbush said:

Catching up here. You you all think they presented enough to convict?

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Attorneys in the Richard Schmelzer murder case sparred one last time Monday in closing arguments which left jurors to decide whether the Texas man carefully plotted the 2014 killing of his grandmother in East Dundee or if police botched their investigation by focusing on Schmelzer.

On Tuesday, the trial's 12th day, the jury will begin their work to sort out two week's worth of information surrounding the murder of 85-year-old Mildred "Dodie" Darrington inside her home.

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Assistant State's Attorney Lori Schmidt told jurors how Darrington went to bed on July 17, 2014, with plans for her usual hair appointment the next morning, as well as a visit from her housekeeper. Meanwhile, some 900 miles away in Texas, Schmelzer spent that Thursday on a 14-hour drive to Illinois to kill Darrington in order to claim his portion of her estate, Schmidt said. That money would allow him to continue a lavish lifestyle that had gutted his family bank accounts after Darrington discontinued giving Schmelzer access to her credit card for cash advances, Schmidt said.

Schmelzer's attorney, Joshua Dieden, attacked the prosecution's case on several points under the umbrella of a flawed investigation which targeted his client as part of a "rush to judgment." Dieden dismissed the notion Schmelzer's spending habits on prostitutes and alleged financial struggles didn't give him motive to kill his beloved grandmother. Dieden said Schmelzer even called Darrington a couple days before she died to say he'd be coming to visit her later in the week, which prompted Dieden to quip murderers don't announce their plans in advance.

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A Kane County jury has found Richard Schmelzer guilty of first-degree murder in the stabbing death of his grandmother.

The jury returned with the verdict at 2 p.m. Tuesday. They had begun at 8 a.m. after a short deliberation Monday evening following closing arguments.

"There are no winners here, a finding of guilty or not guilty our family is still suffering," said Kim Schmelzer following the verdict.

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"(Schmelzer's) deceit is astonishing, and it was done because he was so overcome with greed," Kane County State's Attorney Joe McMahon said in a news release. "Quite frankly, it's still hard to fathom — this man killed his own grandmother to further a lifestyle of gluttony that he couldn't otherwise pay for. He had 14 hours and 900 miles to rethink his plan, but he carried it out, anyway, a calculated, cold-blooded murder."

Schmelzer's next court date is set for Jan. 25. The sentencing hearing will be set at a later date.

Schmelzer faces between 20 and 60 years' imprisonment in the Illinois Department of Corrections, according to the Kane County State's Attorney.

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Judge Linda Abrahamson has set a March 23 sentencing date for the Texas man convicted in December of murdering his grandmother in East Dundee.

Richard Schmelzer is expected to ask the judge at that time for a new trial or to acquit him of killing Mildred Darrington, 83, in her home in July 2014. In a recently filed motion, his trial attorney suggests prosecutors failed to prove Schmelzer's guilt and asks that the jury verdict be thrown out. The motion also claims Abrahamson erred in a number of ways through the two-week trial.

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