Opinion ID: 1674261
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Clark Station

Text: Gene Paul Opalewski, attendant at the Clark station at 5909 West Good Hope Road, Milwaukee, was murdered during an armed robbery in the early morning hours (between 3 and 4:23 a.m.) of September 1, 1978. Opalewski was found lying on the floor in the cashier's booth [3] just behind the door. The cashier booth's door was found unlocked at the time the police discovered Opalewski and there were half-dollars on the floor and around the victim's body as well as in his right hand, while the cash register was empty of all currency. Relative to Hall's statement that he purchased about $5 of gas, the evidence at trial established that the self-service gas pump located nearest to the cashier's booth registered a sale of $4.78. The testimony revealed that upon investigation, the police discovered an expended shell casing for a .25-caliber pistol in the open drawer of the cash register and retained it as evidence. Further, they found no signs of a struggle having taken place in the cashier's booth at the time of the murder. Opalewski's death resulted from a gunshot wound to his head from a .25-caliber bullet later removed from his body during the autopsy. He was shot in the face in the right-upper eyelid and the doctor who removed the bullet concluded that the gun, when fired, was probably further than 16 to 18 inches away from the victim's face as there was no carbonization of Opalewski's skin. There were no eyewitnesses to the crime and a dusting for latent fingerprints revealed none. The spent bullet removed from Opalewski's head and the expended cartridge found in the cash register drawer from the .25-caliber weapon used in the crime were received in evidence as to the identity of the perpetrator.