Convicted killer begs jurors to spare his life

Erica D. Johnson

Thursday, March 20, 2003 | 9:26 a.m.

The Ohio man facing the death penalty for robbing and killing a Caesars Palace kitchen worker begged jurors on Wednesday to spare his life.

During the penalty phase of his capital murder trial, Steven Kaczmarek asked the same jurors who took 25 minutes to convict him of first-degree murder in the September 2002 death of Pedro Villareal, for mercy. Jurors were expected to begin deliberating his fate this morning.

"It's so hard for me to sit here and just say I'm sorry," Kaczmarek said. "But when I say I'm sorry, I mean it from the bottom of my heart."

Kaczmarek, 33, had prepared a written unsworn statement to read, but at the last minute put the statement aside, telling jurors he'd rather speak from his heart.

He described for them a rough childhood growing up in Chicago with his mother and an abusive stepfather.

"I grew up on the streets," he said. "I didn't care. I didn't listen. If I had, I wouldn't have gotten into this situation."

Kaczmarek's testimony was in stark contrast to the man Deputy District Attorney Mary Brown described in her opening statement at the start of the penalty phase -- a brutal killer with a history of violent crimes.

Prosecutors claim Kaczmarek and his 15-year-old girlfriend, Alicia Burns, convinced Villareal to take them back to his motel room at the Uptown Motel, 813 Ogden St.

Villareal, 58, was expecting to pay Burns $200 for sex, but the homeless couple attacked him instead.

Alicia Burns, who faces separate murder charges, will be tried under state law that treats murder defendants who are older than 8 years old as adults. She will not face the death penalty. State law forbids the death penalty for defendants who were younger than 16 when they committed their crimes.

Villareal's body was found in a bathtub with the water running. His arms and legs had been bound with electrical cords and a sock was stuffed in his mouth.

Prosecutors on Wednesday added torture to their list of aggravating factors.

Jurors also heard from an Illinois woman who had been raped by Kaczmarek in the late 1980s.

Jurors must decide whether Kaczmarek should be sentenced to death, 40 to 100 years in prison, life in prison with the possibility of parole after 40 years, or life in prison without parole.

Villareal's 15-year-old daughter, Amanda Villareal, wept as she told jurors Wednesday that her father will "never see my graduation or my wedding or his grandkids. He'll never get to see me drive so I could pick him up and he wouldn't have to take the bus."

The teen, who lives in California, said she spent Christmas and summer vacations with her father in Las Vegas, riding roller coasters and going to boxing matches.

During his statement, Kaczmarek maintained that he intended to rob Villareal but the killing was accidental.

"I'm a good person," he said. "I'm a caring person. I didn't mean to kill him. I'm no angel, but I would never do anything like this."