Illinois Official Reports 

Appellate Court

People v. Kraybill, 2014 IL App (1st) 120232

Appellate Court 

Caption

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. 

DAVID KRAYBILL, Defendant-Appellant.

District & No. First District, Third Division

Docket No. 1-12-0232

Filed June 30, 2014

Held

(Note: This syllabus 

constitutes no part of the 

opinion of the court but 

has been prepared by the 

Reporter of Decisions 

for the convenience of 

the reader.)

The appellate court upheld defendant’s conviction for first-degree 

murder after rejecting his argument that the cumulative effect of the

trial court’s erroneous evidentiary rulings required the reversal of his 

conviction, since evidence of the victim’s alleged criminal activities 

was properly excluded on the grounds that it was speculative and 

inadmissible, especially in the absence of any significant connection 

to the murder, a silencer discovered in defendant’s home was properly 

admitted based on the evidence that it was threaded to fit a handgun 

that defendant also owned and was the type of weapon used to kill the 

victim, the trial court did not err in finding that defendant’s recorded 

interview with a detective was inadmissible, and although 

photographs of collector coins found in defendant’s home were 

improperly admitted in evidence, that single error did not warrant 

reversal in view of the overwhelming evidence of defendant’s guilt.

Decision Under 

Review

Appeal from the Circuit Court of Cook County, No. 04-CR-1044001; 

the Hon. Garritt E. Howard, Judge, presiding.

Judgment Affirmed.
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Counsel on

Appeal

Kathleen T. Zellner & Associates, of Downers Grove (Douglas H. 

Johnson, of counsel), for appellant.

Anita M. Alvarez, State’s Attorney, of Chicago (Alan J. Spellberg, 

Mary Needham, and Clare Wesolik Connolly, Assistant State’s 

Attorneys, of counsel), for the People.

Panel JUSTICE MASON delivered the judgment of the court with opinion.

Presiding Justice Hyman and Justice Pucinski concurred in the 

judgment and opinion.

 OPINION 

¶ 1 Defendant David Kraybill appeals his conviction for the first-degree murder of Joel 

Cacharelis following a jury trial.1

 Kraybill raises the following evidentiary rulings as a basis 

for the reversal of his conviction: (1) preclusion of evidence of Cacharelis’s criminal 

activities; (2) preclusion of evidence relating to the destruction of a detective’s interview 

notes; (3) preclusion of a tape recorded interview between Kraybill and a detective; and (4) 

admission of photographs of collector coins and evidence of a .22-caliber silencer discovered 

in his house. Kraybill claims that the cumulative effect of the trial court’s erroneous 

evidentiary rulings warrants a reversal of his conviction. We disagree and affirm. 

¶ 2 BACKGROUND 

 Cacharelis was murdered in Winnetka, Illinois, on February 24, 2003. Cacharelis and 

Kraybill were childhood friends who kept in touch after Kraybill moved to Madison, 

Wisconsin. Kraybill visited Cacharelis at his home in Winnetka on February 24 and left with 

him in his car later that evening. Cacharelis’s body was discovered on a remote road in 

Winnetka shortly after 11 p.m. Approximately one year later, a grand jury indicted Kraybill 

on one count of first-degree murder (720 ILCS 5/9-1(a)(2) (West 2002)) and one count of 

unlawful possession of a weapon by a felon (720 ILCS 5/24-1.1(a) (West 2002)).

¶ 3 A. Motions in Limine 

¶ 4 Prior to trial, Kraybill filed a motion in limine to exclude evidence relating to a 

.22-caliber silencer recovered from his house following a search, arguing that the silencer 

was irrelevant and the probative value, if any, was substantially outweighed by the danger of 

unfair prejudice. During the hearing on the motion, Kraybill acknowledged that he was 

 

1This appeal relates to Kraybill’s second jury trial. Following the appeal of his first jury trial where 

he was convicted of the same charges, this court reversed and remanded the case for another trial 

finding that testimony addressing Kraybill’s silence during police questioning and the State’s 

arguments relating to that silence denied him a fair trial. People v. Kraybill, No. 1-06-0872 (2008) 

(unpublished order under Supreme Court Rule 23).
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connected to the silencer because it was recovered from his house, but argued that the State 

failed to present evidence that a silencer was used in the murder. The State responded that the 

silencer was relevant because it was purchased in the same transaction as Kraybill’s 

.22-caliber Beretta handgun, the type of weapon used to murder Cacharelis, and no residents 

who lived in the vicinity of the crime scene heard approximately 11 gunshots or called 911, 

rendering it likely that a silencer was used to commit the murder. After hearing arguments, 

the trial court denied Kraybill’s motion in limine finding that the silencer was relevant and 

the probative value outweighed any prejudicial impact. 

¶ 5 During trial, Kraybill filed another motion in limine requesting the court to bar from 

evidence reference to and photographs of collector coins found in his home. Kraybill argued 

the evidence relating to the coins was irrelevant, unfairly prejudicial and would invite 

speculation regarding a connection between certain unique coins recovered from Cacharelis’s 

vehicle and the coins discovered in Kraybill’s house. Kraybill further argued that if the trial 

court allowed the State to reference the photographs of the collector coins, then he should be 

permitted to introduce evidence relating to pending burglary charges against Cacharelis and 

other burglary-related facts. 

¶ 6 The State responded that the collector coins were relevant not to suggest that Kraybill 

was part of a burglary ring, but to establish the reasonable inference that Kraybill may have 

placed the coins in Cacharelis’s vehicle. The trial court denied Kraybill’s motion in limine, 

finding that: (1) unique coins were found underneath the floor mat on the passenger’s side of 

Cacharelis’s vehicle and (2) Kraybill’s fingerprint was found on that side of Cacharelis’s 

vehicle indicating that in all likelihood he was sitting in the passenger seat. In rendering its 

decision, the trial court specifically stated that it would have been inclined to grant Kraybill’s 

motion but for the fact that the defense first argued the relevancy of the coins in Cacharelis’s 

vehicle. The trial court also stated that its ruling did not render relevant evidence relating to 

Cacharelis’s pending burglary charges. 

¶ 7 Before trial, the State filed a motion in limine to bar Kraybill from mentioning that 

Cacharelis had burglary charges pending at the time of his death and that a ring discovered in 

his vehicle was stolen. At the hearing, Kraybill argued that Cacharelis’s pending charges 

were relevant because they suggested that Cacharelis’s involvement in illegal conduct, and 

not Kraybill’s actions, caused his death. The trial court granted the State’s motion but ruled 

that if Kraybill could produce new evidence linking the victim’s alleged criminal activities to 

his murder, the court would revisit the issue. 

¶ 8 In the same motion in limine, the State sought to preclude Kraybill from discussing a 

tape-recorded conversation between Kraybill and Sergeant James Christensen of the 

Winnetka police department that occurred on February 21, 2004. The State argued the 

conversation was hearsay unless: (1) the State questioned Christensen about that 

conversation during his direct examination or (2) Kraybill decided to testify. Kraybill 

responded that Christensen recorded the conversation with a concealed recording device that 

was unknown to Kraybill and the recorded conversation was not hearsay. Kraybill claimed 

that the recorded conversation addressed statements Kraybill allegedly made to Christensen 

in 2003 and explained the interaction between the two individuals during the 2003 

interviews. The trial court granted the State’s motion but noted that the conversation could be 

admitted if Kraybill took the stand and denied making the earlier statements.
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¶ 9 B. Trial Evidence 

¶ 10 Cacharelis lived with his mother, Charlotte, in Winnetka. Charlotte had known Kraybill 

for most of his life because he grew up close by and was her son’s childhood friend. Around 

1990, Kraybill moved to Madison, Wisconsin, but remained in contact with Cacharelis and 

visited him approximately every six to eight weeks. 

¶ 11 On February 24, 2003, at approximately 9 p.m., the front door bell rang at the Cacharelis 

home. Charlotte began walking toward the front door from her bedroom on the second floor. 

Before she reached the front door, she saw Kraybill coming up the stairs. Kraybill was 

wearing a red and black puffy winter jacket. Kraybill looked at Charlotte, but he did not say 

hello or acknowledge her in any way, which was unusual since he had previously always 

greeted her. After Kraybill reached the top of the stairs, he went toward Cacharelis’s 

bedroom, walking past Charlotte, who was not expecting to see him that night. Cacharelis 

was home at the time and was in his bedroom. 

¶ 12 After about 10 minutes, Charlotte heard Cacharelis and Kraybill walk down the wooden 

front stairs. Charlotte assumed that they left through the back door because that door was 

near Cacharelis’s vehicle, a Mercury Cougar, which he typically parked at the rear of the 

house. No one other than Cacharelis had a set of keys to his car. 

¶ 13 At approximately 10:30 p.m., Charlotte went to bed. Neither Cacharelis nor Kraybill 

returned to the house by the time she fell asleep and she did not hear Cacharelis’s vehicle 

return home. At approximately 3 a.m., the police arrived at the house and told her that her 

son had been killed. Charlotte told the police that Kraybill was at the house earlier and that 

Cacharelis left the house with him. 

¶ 14 On February 22, 2003, Russell Sundsmo, Kraybill’s coworker who was interested in 

buying a vehicle from Kraybill, called Kraybill to arrange a time on Monday, February 24 to 

view the vehicle. Kraybill told Sundsmo that he would have to come early that day because 

Kraybill planned to go to Chicago to visit an old friend. Kraybill did not mention the friend’s 

name. 

¶ 15 The parties stipulated that at approximately 11:09 p.m. on February 24, 2003, Heidi 

Lubin was driving northbound on Forestway Drive in Winnetka when she swerved to avoid 

hitting what she believed to be a body in the road. Forestway Drive is a winding, paved road 

in a fairly secluded area, although there are some homes nearby. Lubin swerved a second 

time when she saw a pair of gloves in the road. Lubin did not see anyone else in the area. 

After she arrived home, Lubin called the Glencoe police department at approximately 11:20 

p.m. to report what she had seen. 

¶ 16 After receiving Lubin’s call, Glencoe police notified the Winnetka police department.

Apart from Lubin’s call, no one called 911 that night to report hearing gunshots.

¶ 17 Daniel Weber was a detective and evidence technician for the Winnetka police 

department and was eventually called to investigate the scene. When Weber arrived, he 

noticed Cacharelis’s body on the roadway and saw bullet wounds to the back of his head and 

wet, pooling blood around his head. Near Cacharelis’s body, Weber found seven .22-caliber 

shell casings, which suggested that the bullets had been fired from a semiautomatic weapon. 

North of Cacharelis’s body, Weber discovered two leather gloves. Folded inside each leather 

glove was a purple nitrile glove, which is very similar to a latex medical examination glove. 

The purple gloves appeared to be unworn. 
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¶ 18 At a nearby garbage can, Weber located three additional shell casings from a .22-caliber 

handgun, as well as three sets of distinct footwear impressions and four distinct tire 

impressions that were left on the snow. One set of the footwear impressions was discovered 

in three areas at the murder scene and had a triangular outsole pattern. In one area, the 

impressions were made where a vehicle’s passenger door would have been located; the 

impressions formed a small arch-like path to the same nearby garbage can and then returned 

to the same passenger door. In another area, the footwear impressions went from where the 

vehicle’s passenger door would have been around what would have been the back of the 

vehicle onto the roadway of Forestway Drive and then the footwear impressions stopped. In 

the last area, the footwear impressions went from Forestway Drive near where Cacharelis’s 

body was found to the same garbage can merging to the area where the vehicle’s passenger 

door would have been located. This same footwear impression was later discovered on the 

ground outside the Cacharelis home. Photographs of the triangular footwear impressions 

were sent to the FBI in an attempt to match the outsoles to a manufacturer in its database, but 

the results produced no match. 

¶ 19 The murder scene investigation also included the area at the nearby garbage can. Inside 

the garbage can were chicken wings, a barbecue wings container, an East Bank Club food 

store plastic bag, a Starbucks coffee cup and two napkins. These items were inventoried for 

potential evidentiary value because there was no snow covering them, while snow covered all 

the other trash in the garbage can. 

¶ 20 Officer Jim Chartier, a forensic specialist with the Village of Lincolnwood police 

department, arrived at Cacharelis’s house on February 25, 2003, at approximately 7 a.m. to 

investigate the murder. Cacharelis’s car was parked in the driveway. He walked around the 

car and noticed a .22-caliber shell casing melted into the snow on the trunk’s lid. He also 

noticed that the driver’s and passenger’s door handles were wiped clean in that they did not 

have road and salt film on them. Chartier, however, discovered partial fingerprint evidence 

on the upper driver’s side door frame, as well as another fingerprint impression on the 

passenger side door frame above the cleaned handle. Chartier found rings, jewelry, gold 

coins and a jewelry box underneath the floor mat on the passenger side of the vehicle. He 

also noticed numerous bullet strikes within the vehicle’s center console armrest, including 

one into the passenger’s side of the center console. The path of the bullet strikes within the 

center console indicated that the bullets came from the direction of the vehicle’s front 

passenger door, which would have been open. Chartier also noticed footwear impressions 

displaying a predominant triangular impression leading to the front of the house, and the 

same impression in the back of the house that pointed toward where Cacharelis’s vehicle 

would have been parked earlier. 

¶ 21 At the time of the murder, Jennifer Heggesta was Kraybill’s live-in girlfriend and they 

shared a single-family home in Madison, Wisconsin. Kraybill collected guns and kept the 

guns secure under lock and key in the house. 

¶ 22 During the afternoon of February 23, 2003, Heggesta and Kraybill went to a hospital in 

Madison, Wisconsin, where her mother had just been admitted. Heggesta recalled seeing 

purple examination gloves in her mother’s room that were in open boxes. There was nothing 

to prevent someone from reaching into the boxes to remove the purple gloves, but Heggesta 

did not see Kraybill take any gloves. 
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¶ 23 The next day, Heggesta returned to the hospital and Kraybill remained at home. When 

she returned home at approximately 9 p.m., Kraybill’s vehicle was not in the garage, he was 

not home and he did not leave a note or a message on the answering machine indicating his 

whereabouts. 

¶ 24 At approximately 10 or 10:30 p.m., Heggesta went to sleep and Kraybill had not returned 

home. Heggesta woke up at approximately 10 a.m., and Kraybill was in his bedroom 

sleeping; she did not know what time he returned home. 

¶ 25 On February 25, 2003, two messages were left on Kraybill’s answering machine while he 

was still sleeping: one from a friend in Illinois and the other from Kraybill’s mother. 

Heggesta listened to the messages with Kraybill after he woke up. The friend’s voice in her 

message sounded urgent and she indicated that she wanted to talk to Kraybill. Kraybill’s 

mother’s message stated that Cacharelis had been killed and that she was going to call 

Cacharelis’s mother to express condolences. According to Heggesta, Kraybill had no reaction 

to the messages. Kraybill did not tell Heggesta where he had been the night before or what 

time he got home. Later on February 25, Kraybill took Heggesta’s car and a gas can to go get 

gas for his car because the fuel was so low. 

¶ 26 Kraybill regularly smoked Marlboro Reds cigarettes. Kraybill retained the cigarette 

packaging displaying the bar code or UPC code because Marlboro had a campaign where 

proofs of purchase could be exchanged for merchandise displaying the Marlboro logo at a 

discounted price. Kraybill ordered a Chiller System jacket from Marlboro, which consisted of 

an outer shell and a removable fleece jacket that is worn underneath the outer shell. The 

jacket was two-toned–black with a red stripe. Heggesta recalled Kraybill wearing the jacket 

during the winter of 2001 and 2002, but did not see him wearing the jacket after February 24, 

2003. Heggesta also saw Kraybill previously wearing a pair of leather gloves, but did not see 

him wearing the gloves after February 24, 2003. The leather gloves recovered at the murder 

scene were similar to the leather gloves she had previously seen Kraybill wearing, but looked 

more used. Heggesta, however, had not seen the leather gloves that Kraybill owned for a few 

years prior to the murder. 

¶ 27 Shortly after the murder, police obtained a warrant to search Kraybill’s home. On 

February 28, 2003, Lieutenant Dave Macaluso, an evidence technician for the Lincolnwood 

police department, assisted with the search of Kraybill’s house. During the search, Macaluso 

discovered in cardboard boxes in the basement an owner’s manual for a Beretta pistol, which 

listed a .22-caliber model 87 among several other models. The Beretta handgun was not 

located during the search, but accessories associated with a .22-caliber handgun were 

recovered, including a screw-on .22-caliber sound suppresser, which muffles or suppresses 

the sound of a fired weapon. Also recovered was a receipt dated April 21, 1999, which 

showed that both a Beretta model 87 weapon and suppressor were purchased by Kraybill for 

$500 each. 

¶ 28 Over 3,600 rounds of .22-caliber ammunition were discovered mainly in the basement in 

and around a gun safe and approximately 350 rounds were located in Kraybill’s bedroom. 

Remington, CCI and Fiocchi manufactured some of the bullets recovered from Kraybill’s 

house. A search of Kraybill’s house also uncovered collector coins, which were 

photographed, but not inventoried. 
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¶ 29 The parties stipulated to Kraybill’s purchase of a semiautomatic Beretta model 87 

.22-caliber handgun and a .22-caliber sound silencer and that the handgun was threaded to 

accept the sound silencer. 

¶ 30 Chris Luckie, an expert in firearm and tool mark examinations, examined the evidence 

relating to Cacharelis’s death that included the 12 shell casings recovered during the 

investigation. Based on his examination, Luckie determined that the recovered shell casings 

were discharged from a single .22-caliber weapon. Luckie identified Remington, CCI and 

Fiocchi as manufacturers of the shell casings. Luckie also examined 10 bullets that were 

recovered and determined that they were all discharged from a .22-caliber weapon. Luckie 

was unable to determine whether a single weapon discharged all of the bullets because they 

had insufficient markings for identification purposes. Luckie determined that a Beretta model 

87 was one of six manufacturers out of thousands capable of discharging the recovered 

bullets. 

¶ 31 According to Luckie, if a Berreta model 87 was properly threaded, a silencer may be used 

with that type of weapon. Luckie, however, did not examine the silencer that was recovered 

from Kraybill’s house because he needed the actual murder weapon in order to determine 

whether Kraybill’s silencer was used to discharge the recovered bullets. Luckie did not think 

that conducting a controlled test where a gun, any gun, would discharge a bullet with and 

without use of the recovered silencer would provide very useful information. 

¶ 32 William Bodziak specializes in questioned-document examination, footwear-impression 

evidence and tire-impression evidence. Bodziak examined photographs of the footwear 

impressions discovered at the murder scene and at Cacharelis’s house. He concluded that the 

same shoe made the triangular impressions at Cacharelis’s house and at the murder scene and 

the impressions at both locations were consistent with each other. Bodziak also examined 

shoes previously worn by Cacharelis and Kraybill, and measured Kraybill’s feet. Bodziak 

compared the size of Cacharelis’s shoes and Kraybill’s feet to the foot size of the footwear 

impressions at the murder scene and at Cacharelis’s house. Bodziak determined that 

Kraybill’s foot size ranged from 8 to 9 and that size was consistent with the general 

dimensions of the impressions at the murder scene and at Cacharelis’s house. Regarding the 

tire impressions, Bodziak opined that Cacharelis’s vehicle with Goodyear GT+4 tires 

corresponded in tread design, dimension and pitch to the tire impressions left at the murder 

scene and at Cacharelis’s house.

¶ 33 Forensic scientist Kenneth Pfoser examined the leather and plastic gloves recovered at 

the murder scene. A full DNA match existed between Kraybill and both leather gloves. The 

chance of an unknown individual having the same DNA profile found on the evidence in this 

case would be 1 in 174 quadrillion Caucasians. Pfoser acknowledged that an individual’s 

DNA could be found on an object that he never touched because of the phenomenon of 

transference, whereby an individual can touch one object leaving DNA that is transferred 

onto another object that the person never touched. Pfoser was unable to recover any DNA 

from the purple gloves. Both Cacharelis’s and Kraybill’s DNA were excluded from the DNA 

profile obtained from the chicken bones and East Bank Club bag located in the garbage can 

at the murder scene. 

¶ 34 Before his retirement, Theatrice Patterson was a latent print examiner for the Chicago 

police department. Patterson examined the 43 fingerprints recovered from Cacharelis’s 
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vehicle. Patterson concluded that the fingerprint that was obtained from the passenger side of 

Cacharelis’s vehicle matched the print of Kraybill’s right middle finger. 

¶ 35 During the investigation of Cacharelis’s murder, Sergeant James Christensen interviewed 

Kraybill several times. On March 5, 2003, during an interview with Christensen, Kraybill 

said Cacharelis “was manipulative, egocentric and cared for no one other than his own self.” 

Kraybill repeated his characterization of Cacharelis during other interviews with Christensen. 

Kraybill also stated that “you and I both know that at some point I’m going to have to face 

charges in Illinois.” During an interview on March 11, 2003, after Kraybill learned that his 

fingerprint was found on Cacharelis’s vehicle and his DNA was located at the murder scene, 

Kraybill “stated that perhaps the offender brought along a pistol for nothing more than his 

own personal protection.” Kraybill continued by stating that, “If I tell you guys everything, I 

want to tell you *** I don’t know if I’m ready to make that leap of faith to tell you guys 

everything and to spend the rest of my life in jail.” Kraybill sighed, lowered his head and 

stated, “I’ve had a great 40 years, no one can take that away from me.” After learning that 

numerous shell casings were recovered at the murder scene, Kraybill said, “Joel was selfish. I 

can almost see his last little smirk.” Kraybill also said, “it’s hard for me to give you guys the 

whole pie. I might be able to give you a piece of the pie, but I think you guys are going to 

find out the truth.”

¶ 36 Nearly a year later, on February 20, 2004, Kraybill was arrested in Wisconsin and 

charged with murder. Kraybill spent five weeks in the Dane County Jail in Wisconsin before 

he was extradited to Illinois. Before his extradition and while he was in jail, Heggesta and 

Kraybill spoke on the telephone fairly often and their calls were recorded. Heggesta also 

visited him at the jail and their conversation during the visit was likewise recorded. On 

February 21, 2004, Heggesta told Kraybill that she received a grand jury subpoena from 

Illinois. Kraybill referred to the Illinois investigators and detectives as “those jerks from 

Illinois” and tried to tell Heggesta what to say to those “chumps.” On February 22, 2004, 

Kraybill advised Heggesta to cry the whole time while talking to the Illinois authorities 

because it is impossible to question someone who is crying. On February 28, 2004, Kraybill 

told Heggesta to “just say f*** you” to the Illinois authorities regarding his whereabouts on 

the night of the murder. During conversations on March 14 and March 27, 2004, Kraybill 

became angry when he learned that Heggesta had provided the authorities with a handwritten 

statement and accused her of not reading the statement thoroughly and only signing the last 

page of the statement implying that she did not know what she was signing. Kraybill also 

implied that she gave the statement under duress. Kraybill told Heggesta that if she was 

pregnant, he would not receive the death penalty because no jury would convict a man who 

had a pregnant girlfriend or wife. Kraybill further stated that she may save his life because 

the jury would unlikely kill him if he had a baby. 

¶ 37 Although Kraybill did not testify on his own behalf at trial, his mother testified that when 

she called Charlotte to express her condolences, Charlotte indicated that Kraybill arrived at 

her house the previous night at approximately 6:30 p.m. and left at approximately 7 p.m. 

Kraybill also presented the testimony of the East Bank Club’s director of building facilities 

who stated that the club sold barbeque chicken wings to a club member on the day before the 

murder and made a second sale to an unidentified individual on the day of the murder at 

approximately 8:41 p.m. 
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¶ 38 In its closing argument, the State did not mention evidence regarding the coins found in 

Kraybill’s home or connect them to those in Cacharelis’s car. In his closing argument in 

reference to the coins found in Cacharelis’s car, defense counsel stated: 

“Wouldn’t it be nice to know where those [coins and jewelry] came from? Did you 

hear anything? Was there any evidence, was there any follow-up? No, there wasn’t.

Might that not explain to you what Joe Cacharelis was doing on that lonely road in 

Winnetka almost at midnight way back then, this private man who believes his 

phones were tapped who died with $300 in his pocket, but we didn’t hear.”

In its rebuttal closing, the State responded: 

“Defense made a big deal about what was found on the floor boards of the victim’s 

car. Okay. There are some gold coins on the bottom of his car. We know he wasn’t 

robbed when he was killed, so what do these have to do with anything. I don’t know, 

they are just found in his car. By the way, they are found on the side of the car that 

the defendant was in on the passenger side. Defendant collects coins. Big deal. We 

are not saying those coins are his, but again, something that has nothing to do with 

this crime, like the chicken wings. Was it there? Yes. Did it have any evidentiary 

value? No. They [the police] collected it anyway.”

¶ 39 The jury returned a verdict finding Kraybill guilty of first-degree murder. The jury also 

found that during the commission of that offense, he personally discharged a firearm that 

proximately caused the death of another person. The trial court sentenced Kraybill to 65 

years’ imprisonment. Kraybill filed a motion for a new trial, which the trial court denied. 

Kraybill timely appealed. 

¶ 40 ANALYSIS 

¶ 41 On appeal, Kraybill’s claims of error all relate to the trial court’s rulings on the admission 

of evidence. The same standards of review apply to each claimed error. A trial court’s ruling 

regarding the admissibility of evidence is reviewed for an abuse of discretion. People v. Villa, 

2011 IL 110777, ¶ 44; People v. Morgan, 197 Ill. 2d 404, 455 (2001). A trial court abuses its 

discretion where its ruling “is arbitrary, fanciful, or unreasonable to the degree that no 

reasonable person would agree with it.” People v. Rivera, 2013 IL 112467, ¶ 37. A trial court 

is charged with the responsibility of determining whether evidence is relevant and 

admissible. Morgan, 197 Ill. 2d at 455. Evidence is deemed relevant “if it has any tendency 

to make the existence of any fact that is of consequence to the determination of an action 

either more or less probable than it would be without the evidence.” Id. at 455-56. It is within 

a trial court’s discretion to reject evidence if the evidence is remote, uncertain or speculative. 

Id. at 456. Evidence is considered speculative if an insufficient nexus exists to connect the 

offered evidence to the crime. People v. Makiel, 263 Ill. App. 3d 54, 70-71 (1994). 

¶ 42 A. Evidence Connecting Cacharelis to Criminal Activity 

¶ 43 Kraybill notes Cacharelis was murdered on a desolate road and that stolen property was 

in his car. Kraybill claims the trial court erred in granting the State’s motion in limine

excluding evidence demonstrating Cacharelis’s participation in burglary activities. Kraybill 

argues this evidence was relevant because it supported his defense that Cacharelis was 

murdered, not by Kraybill, but by an individual associated with his illegal burglary activities. 
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¶ 44 We disagree. Kraybill proposed to adduce evidence regarding Cacharelis’s burglary 

activities that consisted of: (1) pending charges against Cacharelis for burglary; (2) a court 

appearance scheduled for the day after Cacharelis was murdered; (3) Cacharelis’s possession 

of approximately $400,000 in safe deposit boxes at the time of his death; (4) Cacharelis’s 

possession of a stolen ring discovered in his vehicle at the time of his death; and (5) 

testimony from a neighbor who routinely saw Cacharelis leave in his car late at night. But 

even considered cumulatively, this evidence does not have a sufficient connection to 

Cacharelis’s murder to be considered relevant. Admitting the evidence identified by Kraybill 

would not have established any connection between Cacharelis’s death and those burglary 

activities. 

¶ 45 Although a defendant in a criminal case may offer evidence that tends to show another 

individual committed the offense, such evidence is inadmissible as being irrelevant if it is too 

remote or speculative. People v. Kirchner, 194 Ill. 2d 502, 539-40 (2000). 

¶ 46 In People v. Wheeler, 226 Ill. 2d 92, 133-34 (2007), our supreme court found speculative 

comparatively more descriptive evidence of another suspect identified by the defendant. In 

Wheeler, the defendant named a specific individual who was the highest ranking Gangster 

Disciple in Decatur, Illinois, as having a motive to kill the victim. Id. at 133. The Wheeler

court held that the proffered evidence linking the other individual to the murder was 

speculative because no connection to the murder scene was established, especially where the 

individual was in prison at the time of the murder, and no evidence was offered that the 

individual otherwise arranged for the victim’s death. Id. at 133-34. See also People v. Fort, 

248 Ill. App. 3d 301, 314 (1993) (finding the defendant’s evidence that an individual named 

“Duke” may have killed the victim was too speculative because no evidence was presented to 

establish “Duke’s” identity, his presence at the murder scene, or his involvement in the 

murder); People v. Bruce, 185 Ill. App. 3d 356, 364, 367 (1989) (finding testimony about 

whether the victims were involved with drugs and whether they may have been murdered by 

someone also involved with drugs was too speculative, conjectural and remote because the 

defendant failed to specifically identify any other person who may have murdered the 

victims). 

¶ 47 Here, Kraybill failed to offer any information regarding the identity of another individual 

present at the murder scene or involved with Cacharelis who may have murdered him. As the 

record reveals, Kraybill did argue to the jury that the unexplained presence of coins and 

jewelry in Cacharelis’s car coupled with the recently deposited garbage containing the DNA 

of someone other than Kraybill or Cacharelis pointed to a perpetrator other than Kraybill. 

Thus, Kraybill’s theory that someone else was responsible for the murder was considered and 

rejected by the jury. Nothing in the excluded evidence would have made that argument any 

more persuasive or, for our purpose, any less speculative. 

 An insufficient connection exists between the evidence relating to Cacharelis’s alleged 

illegal conduct and his death rendering this evidence speculative and inadmissible. Therefore, 

the evidence was properly excluded. 

¶ 48 B. Silencer 

¶ 49 Kraybill also contends that the trial court erred in allowing the State to inform the jury 

that authorities seized a .22-caliber silencer from his house among his weapons collection. 

Kraybill claims that the silencer was inadmissible because no evidence existed connecting 
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that silencer to the murder or even that a silencer was used during the murder. Kraybill 

contends that the State unfairly argued that a .22-caliber Beretta handgun that he owned, 

which theoretically was capable of firing the bullets that killed Cacharelis, was threaded to fit 

a silencer. Kraybill maintains that the probative value of admitting the silencer in an effort to 

tie him to the offense was minimal, but the prejudicial impact great given the negative 

inferences associated with silencers. 

¶ 50 Generally, a weapon may not be admitted into evidence unless proof exists connecting it 

to the defendant and the crime or unless the defendant possessed the weapon when arrested 

for the crime. People v. Maldonado, 240 Ill. App. 3d 470, 478 (1992). Admitting into 

evidence unconnected weapons is improper because it would arouse the jury and prejudice 

the defendant. People v. Evans, 373 Ill. App. 3d 948, 960 (2007). Thus, weapons not proved 

to be in the defendant’s possession or under his control should not be admitted into evidence. 

Id. A sufficient connection exists where the weapon is suitable for the crime charged, but it 

need not be shown that it was actually used to commit the crime. Maldonado, 240 Ill. App. 

3d at 479. 

¶ 51 In this case, the State established the required connection between the silencer and 

Cacharelis’s murder. The State offered the following evidence to connect the silencer to 

Kraybill and the crime: (1) a receipt shows and Kraybill stipulated that he purchased both a 

silencer and a .22-caliber Beretta model 87 handgun on April 21, 1999, and that the Beretta 

was threaded to accept the silencer; (2) a .22-caliber weapon was used to murder Cacharelis; 

(3) the types of .22-caliber ammunition recovered at the murder scene were also the types of 

ammunition located in Kraybill’s house; (4) the Berretta handgun was one of six handguns 

out of potentially thousands of manufacturers of .22-caliber weapons that could have fired 

the ammunition recovered at the scene; and (5) despite the remote location of the murder 

scene, residences were close by and no one called 911 to report hearing repeated gunshots. 

Based on the foregoing evidence, the State’s evidence was sufficient to establish the required 

connection between the silencer, the crime and Kraybill. 

¶ 52 Although Kraybill contends that additional tests could have been performed to determine 

whether the silencer recovered from his house was actually used to murder Cacharelis, 

forensic scientist Luckie testified that the actual weapon that discharged the bullets, which 

was never located, was necessary to accurately perform additional testing of the silencer. 

Kraybill also contends–for the first time on appeal–that additional testing could have been 

performed to determine whether the recovered silencer contained the same gunshot residue 

found near the bullet wounds on Cacharelis’s body. Because Kraybill failed to raise this 

contention during trial, we will not consider it for the first time on appeal. People v. 

Robinson, 167 Ill. 2d 397, 404 (1995). 

¶ 53 Kraybill relies on Maldonado and People v. Babiarz, 271 Ill. App. 3d 153 (1995), but 

both cases are distinguishable. In each of these cases, the weapons admitted into evidence 

were not “suitable” for the commission of the offense with which the defendant was charged, 

one because it was a different type of weapon altogether (Maldonado, 240 Ill. App. 3d at 

479) and the other because the caliber of the weapon recovered did not match the bullets 

recovered from the victim’s body (Babiarz, 271 Ill. App. 3d at 160). The evidence here 

established that the silencer that Kraybill owned was threaded to fit the Berretta handgun that 

he also owned and that the Berretta was the same type of weapon used to fatally shoot 
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Cacharelis. Thus, the trial court did not abuse its discretion by ruling that the silencer 

discovered at Kraybill’s house was admissible. 

¶ 54 C. Conversations With Sergeant Christensen 

¶ 55 Kraybill next claims that the trial court erred in finding both that Sergeant Christensen’s 

alleged violation of the investigatory note disclosure law and his tape-recorded conversation 

with Kraybill in 2004 were inadmissible. Kraybill claims Christensen’s destruction of his 

investigatory notes revealed his bias as a witness. Kraybill also claims the tape recording of 

the 2004 conversation was relevant because, in reference to the 2003 conversations, he 

denied stating: (1) he knew he would be facing charges in Illinois; (2) he would give the 

investigating officers a “piece of the pie;” and (3) he did not know if he was ready to make 

that leap of faith to tell the authorities everything and spend the rest of his life in jail. 

According to Kraybill, he maintained his innocence during the tape-recorded conversation 

and asserted his belief he would not receive a fair trial because the investigating authorities 

were interjecting words into his statements or lying. 

¶ 56 During oral arguments, defense counsel asserted the 2004 conversation was relevant 

because Kraybill explained the meaning of his 2003 statements that were admitted into 

evidence through Christensen’s testimony. Specifically, Kraybill explained he was not 

referring to facing charges in Illinois for Cacharelis’s murder, but was referencing his 

attorney attempting to reach a deal with Illinois authorities related to gun charges and getting 

his guns back. Kraybill also explained when he said the perpetrator may have brought a gun 

for his own personal protection, he was merely speculating about how the murder may have 

occurred, “like we were cops or something.” Regarding the “piece of the pie” statement, 

Kraybill explained he did not state he would not give the authorities the whole thing because 

he would go to prison, but that he would help them out as much as a “piece of pie.” Kraybill 

claims the tape recording should have been admitted even though Christensen did not discuss 

the recorded interview during trial because the jury would learn Kraybill’s version of what 

transpired during prior interviews. 

¶ 57 We reject Kraybill’s claim that the trial court abused its discretion by precluding the 

questioning of Christensen about notes he took of his interview with Kraybill. According to 

Kraybill, the testimony was relevant because Christensen’s destruction of interview notes 

violated section 114-13(b) of the Illinois Code of Criminal Procedure of 1963 (725 ILCS 

5/114-13(b) (West 2004)), which became effective on November 19, 2003. Section 

114-13(b) precludes the destruction of interview notes in homicide cases and requires the 

notes to be given to the prosecuting authorities. Id. Kraybill claims that cross-examining 

Christensen regarding the interview notes would have revealed his bias, interest and motive 

to testify falsely. We disagree. 

¶ 58 First, Kraybill never established that a violation of this provision occurred. Christensen’s 

conversations with Kraybill occurred in February and March 2003, shortly after Cacharelis’s 

murder. Christensen testified that he did not take notes during these conversations, that he 

and another detective memorialized their recollection of the conversations after each one of 

them and ultimately incorporated their notes into a formal police report. The report regarding 

these conversations is dated March 6, 2003. Christensen testified that once he prepared the 

formal report, he destroyed the notes. Thus, nothing in the foregoing scenario establishes a 

violation of section 114-13(b), which did not become effective until months later. 
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¶ 59 Further, with respect to Christensen’s investigation after November 2003, it was beyond 

the scope of his direct examination and, consequently, the trial court had discretion to 

preclude this inquiry. In any event, Kraybill has not provided evidence that Christensen took 

notes during any interview after November 2003 and if and when those notes would have 

been destroyed. Nothing in the record reveals that Kraybill requested this information in 

pretrial discovery. Consequently, the predicate for the proposed cross-examination of 

Christensen–an alleged violation of section 114-13(b)–has not been shown to exist.

¶ 60 Moreover, the testimony Kraybill hoped to elicit through Christensen is inadmissible. As 

noted above, Christensen did not testify on direct examination about the investigative steps 

he took after November 2003, when the law became effective. Nonetheless, Kraybill sought 

to elicit testimony regarding a 2004 conversation he had with Christensen ostensibly to show 

that Christensen destroyed notes of his conversations with Kraybill. Kraybill failed to 

sufficiently explain how expanding the scope of Christensen’s cross-examination to address 

post-2003 investigative steps would discredit him or show his bias; likewise, Kraybill failed 

to demonstrate the relevance of that testimony or the prejudice he would suffer absent that 

testimony. See People v. Lewis, 223 Ill. 2d 393, 404 (2006) (recognizing that the limitation 

on the scope of cross-examination is liberally construed to permit inquiry into subjects 

tending to explain, discredit, or destroy the witness’ testimony on direct examination). Here, 

no basis in the record exists to conclude that the trial court abused its discretion in limiting 

Kraybill’s cross-examination of Christensen to preclude questioning of investigative steps 

taken in 2004. 

¶ 61 We also disagree with Kraybill that the trial court erred in granting the State’s motion 

in limine precluding discussion of the 2004 interview between Kraybill and Christensen 

during which Kraybill denied either making the statements or the meaning attributed to those 

prior statements. The State sought to preclude, as inadmissible hearsay, the conversation 

Kraybill had with Christensen on February 21, 2004, when Christensen was recording the 

conversation unless either the State raised that conversation on Christensen’s direct 

examination or Kraybill decided to testify on his own behalf. We agree with the State that 

Kraybill’s statements were inadmissible hearsay. 

¶ 62 The mere fact that Kraybill’s 2004 statements were recorded and that he could lay a 

foundation for the recording does not render his proposed use of otherwise inadmissible 

hearsay statements proper. The State’s use of Kraybill’s statements was admissible under the 

admissions by party opponent exception to the hearsay rule. People v. Kidd, 175 Ill. 2d 1, 29 

(1996). In contrast, Kraybill’s desired use of his own exculpatory statements to Christensen 

does not fall within a recognized exception to the rule against hearsay; rather, “[s]elf-serving 

statements by an accused are inadmissible hearsay.” People v. Patterson, 154 Ill. 2d 414, 452 

(1992). Self-serving statements “are considered inadmissible hearsay because their relevance 

depends upon the truth of the matter asserted or the declarant’s belief in the truth or falsity of 

the matter asserted.” Id.

¶ 63 Kraybill sought to admit statements he made to Christensen in 2004 to contradict his 

earlier statements and establish his belief that the authorities were trying to frame him. 

Kraybill’s intended use of the statements was self-serving and, therefore, inadmissible. For 

these reasons, the cases that Kraybill cites as support for the introduction of his statements 

into evidence are readily distinguishable because the relevant statements were first 

introduced into evidence by the prosecution and not the defendant. See People v. Theis, 2011 
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IL App (2d) 091080, ¶ 32 (defendant asserted that a videotaped police interview was 

erroneously admitted as hearsay); People v. Griffin, 375 Ill. App. 3d 564, 570 (2007) 

(defendant asserted that the taped conversation was erroneously introduced); People v. 

Harvey, 95 Ill. App. 3d 992, 998 (1981) (prosecution offered tapes as evidence). 

Consequently, because Kraybill, and not the State, sought to introduce the tape recording into 

evidence to support his defense, the trial court did not abuse its discretion in granting the 

State’s motion in limine barring introduction of the taped conversation into evidence. The 

substance of Kraybill’s 2004 statements did not explain the earlier interviews or put prior 

statements in context; they were merely contradictory statements attempting to bolster his 

defense. 

¶ 64 Although Kraybill argues his statements during the 2004 interview were relevant and 

necessary to explain statements made during the 2003 interviews, this contention alone does 

not equate to a claim that either the completeness doctrine or Illinois Rule of Evidence 106 

(eff. Jan. 1, 2011) applies. Kraybill’s cursory reference to a completeness argument in his 

opening brief lacks citations to relevant legal authority and the issue is not fully developed. 

Consequently, any argument relating to the application of the completeness doctrine and 

Rule 106 is forfeited. Ill. S. Ct. R. 341(h)(7) (eff. Feb. 6, 2013). See People v. Sanchez, 169 

Ill. 2d 472, 500 (1996) (declining review of contentions not supported by argument or 

authority). 

¶ 65 Forfeiture aside, both the completeness doctrine and Rule 106 are inapplicable. Under the 

common law completeness doctrine, the remainder of a writing, recording or oral statement 

is admissible to prevent the jury from being mislead, to place the admitted evidence in 

context to convey its true meaning or to shed light on the meaning of the admitted evidence. 

People v. Craigen, 2013 IL App (2d) 111300, ¶ 42. Because Kraybill seeks to admit 

statements made during an entirely different interview, the completeness doctrine does not 

apply. Rule 106 codified, in part, the completeness doctrine and provides: “When a writing 

or recorded statement or part thereof is introduced by a party, an adverse party may require 

the introduction at that time of any other part or any other writing or recorded statement 

which ought in fairness to be considered contemporaneously with it.” (Emphasis added.) Ill. 

R. Evid. 106 (eff. Jan. 1, 2011); Craigen, 2013 IL App (2d) 111300, ¶ 42. Based on Rule 

106’s express language, either a written or recorded statement must be introduced by a party 

in order for an adverse party to invoke the rule to admit the remaining portion or another 

written or recorded statement. Kraybill seeks to admit the 2004 recorded interview to explain 

oral statements he made during the 2003 interviews. The State did not introduce any written 

or recorded statements of the 2003 interviews. For this reason, Rule 106 is also inapplicable. 

Consequently, for the reasons stated, the 2004 tape recorded interview was inadmissible and 

the trial court did not err in excluding it from evidence.

¶ 66 D. Collector Coins 

¶ 67 Finally, Kraybill claims the trial court ruled inconsistently in excluding evidence of 

Cacharelis’s criminal activities and possession of stolen property when he was murdered 

while admitting photographs of collector coins discovered inside Kraybill’s house. Kraybill 

contends that the photographs of the collector coins unfairly linked him to the coins 

recovered underneath the floor mats on the passenger side of Cacharelis’s vehicle. Kraybill 

also claims that he was prejudiced by the State’s rebuttal closing argument because it invited 
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the jury to infer that Kraybill possessed the coins and left them in Cacharelis’s vehicle 

despite the lack of evidence supporting such a contention. Lastly, Kraybill claims that the 

State’s rebuttal closing argument was prejudicial because it alluded to a motive for 

Cacharelis’s murder and tied Kraybill to criminal activity apart from the pending charges. 

¶ 68 We agree with Kraybill that the photographs of the collector coins found in his home 

were not relevant. The State sought to connect the photographs of the collector coins to 

Kraybill and the murder by inferring that because coins similar to those found in Kraybill’s 

home were discovered on the passenger side of Cacharelis’s vehicle, Kraybill was 

responsible for placing them there. But the State never established this connection by, for 

example, showing that coins were missing from the coin catalogues discovered in Kraybill’s 

home. Any probative value associated with the photographs of the collector coins was 

minimal, at best. Moreover, the State, in essence, conceded in its rebuttal closing argument 

that the collector coins were irrelevant. Thus, the trial court erroneously admitted the 

photographs of the collector coins into evidence.

¶ 69 As we have rejected Kraybill’s other claims of error, we must consider whether this 

single error in his trial warrants reversal. When reviewing an error to determine whether it is 

harmless, this court may “(1) focus on the error to determine whether it might have 

contributed to the conviction; (2) examine the other properly admitted evidence to determine 

whether it overwhelmingly supports the conviction; or (3) determine whether the improperly 

admitted evidence is merely cumulative or duplicates properly admitted evidence.” People v. 

Becker, 239 Ill. 2d 215, 240 (2010) (citing In re Rolandis G., 232 Ill. 2d 13, 43 (2008)). An 

error does not require reversal of a conviction unless it appears that real justice has been 

denied or the jury’s verdict may have resulted from the error. People v. Tranowski, 20 Ill. 2d 

11, 17 (1960). In a criminal case, a defendant is entitled to a fair trial, but not a perfect one. 

People v. Herron, 215 Ill. 2d 167, 177 (2005). Where the record reveals that the jury’s verdict 

is supported by properly admitted evidence, errors in the admission of evidence do not 

warrant reversal. Tranowski, 20 Ill. 2d at 17. 

¶ 70 Reviewing the record, we conclude that the evidence properly admitted into evidence 

proves Kraybill guilty beyond a reasonable doubt and demonstrates that no fair minded jury 

could have reasonably found him not guilty. The evidence as we have summarized it above 

overwhelmingly supports the jury’s verdict. Kraybill’s connection to Cacharelis and the type 

of weapon and ammunition used to murder him, his presence at the Cacharelis home just 

hours before Cacharelis was murdered, the fingerprint, footprint and DNA evidence and, 

finally, his own words to Christensen and to his girlfriend all point to his guilt. On this 

record, particularly since the State suggested to the jury that it should ignore evidence 

regarding the coins, we are confident that the single error we have identified did not 

influence the jury’s verdict. 

¶ 71 CONCLUSION 

¶ 72 For the reasons stated, we affirm Kraybill’s convictions. 

¶ 73 Affirmed.