Opinion ID: 6496058
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Lowry and Siegers Murders

Text: Marion Lowry owned Calumet Auto Rebuilders (“Calumet Auto”), at which Harvey Siegers worked. Calumet Auto was located in Latin Kings territory adjacent to a convenience store and laundromat where gang members dealt drugs. In the months leading up to June 1999, many Latin Kings, including Farmer, believed Lowry and Siegers were “snitching” on the gang’s activities to police. Farmer and other Latin Kings smashed car windows at Calumet Auto to intimidate Lowry and Siegers and deter them from speaking with police. On June 25, 1999, Clarissa Holodick saw a white man with blonde hair running away from Calumet Auto. Holodick entered Calumet Auto and discovered Lowry and Siegers lying in a pool of blood. Their injuries were horrific. Both suffered blunt force trauma to the head and face resulting in multiple skull fractures. Lowry had numerous brain lacerations. Siegers had a broken jaw, a large hole in the front of his skull, and a lacerated eyeball which had popped out of its socket. Lowry was already dead by the time first responders arrived at the scene. Siegers succumbed to his injuries later at the hospital. Law enforcement recovered a distinctive pair of sunglasses at the scene which were later identified as belonging to Farmer. The specifics of Lowry and Siegers’s injuries were not publicized. Within an hour of discovering Lowry and Siegers, Holodick described the man she saw fleeing from Calumet Auto to law enforcement and began working with Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives Special Agent Eric Ellis to create a composite sketch using Electronic Facial Identification Technique. Holodick described each feature of the suspect. If the sketch did not reflect her recollection of that feature, Ellis No. 20-3119 5 altered the sketch until it matched Holodick’s description. The process took approximately 4.5 hours. Law enforcement did not show Holodick any photos before or while she created the sketch. Once complete, law enforcement published the sketch around the community. Malinauskas and Glen Kok, a former Latin Kings member, saw the sketch and believed the suspect looked like Farmer. Farmer was upset the night of June 25, 1999, and appeared to have changed his clothing. Malinauskas recalled Farmer came home in a panic, bloody, and tried to wash his clothing with bleach. Jason Gibbs, a former Latin King, saw Farmer, who seemed agitated and freshly showered, later that night wearing a neighbor’s clothes. After the Lowry and Siegers murders, Farmer tattooed two filled-in teardrops on his face which, in Latin King circles, traditionally signifies the number of people the wearer has killed. Farmer repeatedly claimed responsibility for the Lowry and Siegers murders. Farmer told Byron Wren, a now-deceased member of the Latin Kings, he killed Lowry and Siegers because he feared they saw him shoot at a car and wanted to make sure they kept their mouths shut. Farmer described killing the men with a hammer and then stealing money. A few weeks after the murder, Farmer told Malinauskas he “killed two men with a hammer” and was scared because he believed he dropped his sunglasses at the scene. Farmer said he murdered the men “for drug money, or something about money.” Farmer later recounted killing Lowry and Siegers with a hammer to Gibbs, describing how good it felt to hold “a man’s life in the palm of his hand,” the sensation of breaking bones and jaws and teeth, and what it was like to hit someone so hard their eye nearly fell out. Gibbs recalled Farmer 6 No. 20-3119 describing how Lowry and Siegers cried and begged for their lives. Farmer told Gibbs he killed the men because they should have known better than to “snitch” in Latin Kings territory. Farmer further told Gibbs he “hit a lick” after killing Lowry and Siegers. Robert Davis, a local youth, ran into Farmer at a basketball court where Farmer told him he “went into the garage, had a sledgehammer, and [ ] hit the guys.” Davis recalled Farmer repeating this story at a party. Almost two years later, on April 18, 2001, officers Thomas Grabowski and Anthony Adams showed Holodick a six-person photo identification array. While Holodick was able to eliminate four of the persons photographed, she was unable to affirmatively identify Farmer. Grabowski and Adams both testified the photo array Holodick viewed did not display names. In May 2001, Hammond police executed a search warrant at Farmer’s father’s house. Officers recovered scrapbooks, photographs, drawings, and letters written to and by Farmer.