Laurence Lovejoy Case: Reversal, Retrial, and Life Sentence

The Laurence Lovejoy case is the Illinois prosecution of a man who murdered his 16-year-old stepdaughter, Erin Justice, in their Aurora townhouse on March 27, 2004, three weeks after she had accused him of sexually assaulting her. A DuPage County jury first convicted him in 2007 and sentenced him to death, but the Illinois Supreme Court reversed that conviction in 2009 over a discovery violation involving expert testimony. On retrial in 2011, a second jury convicted him again, and Judge Kathryn Creswell sentenced him to natural life in prison without the possibility of parole.¹

The Killing of Erin Justice

Erin Justice was a sophomore at Waubonsie Valley High School and a member of the varsity track team.² On the morning of Saturday, March 27, 2004, her mother, Valerie Justice, found her body submerged in bloody water in the bathtub of the family’s Aurora townhouse at about 11:00 a.m.³

The medical examination showed Erin had been beaten with a blunt instrument, poisoned with lethal doses of over-the-counter medication, stabbed and cut on her wrists, arm, hand, and back, and drowned. Her throat had been slit in two places. At the retrial, DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin told jurors Lovejoy “carved her up like a piece of meat.”⁴ Prosecutors said Lovejoy went to the townhouse intending to kill Erin and stage her death as a suicide.⁵

The Sexual Assault Report and the Alleged Motive

Lovejoy had married Valerie Justice around November 2003, roughly four months before the murder.⁵ On March 3, 2004, Erin told police that Lovejoy had sexually assaulted her while her mother was at work. She was taken to Edward Hospital in Naperville, where DNA swabs were collected and sent to the DuPage County crime lab. Lovejoy was arrested and released pending DNA results, ordered to have no contact with Erin, and required to stay out of the family’s new townhouse except during daytime hours while Erin was at school.⁶

During those three weeks, Lovejoy repeatedly pressed Valerie to tell police Erin was lying. Valerie refused and later testified she told him she would support Erin and wait for the DNA results.⁷ Prosecutors argued Lovejoy killed Erin to keep her from testifying against him on the pending sexual assault charge.⁸

The Evidence Against Lovejoy

There was no eyewitness, no murder weapon, and no confession. The case was built on forensics and circumstance. Investigators recovered a partial bare footprint in a blood puddle on a bathroom tile that matched Lovejoy.⁴ DNA testing from the earlier sexual assault exam had already found amylase, consistent with saliva, matching Lovejoy’s DNA on swabs taken from Erin’s breast and cheek. Erin’s blood was recovered from a red frying pan, from a doorknob assembly, and throughout the townhouse. Lovejoy’s palm print was on a roll of plastic garbage bags under the kitchen sink.⁶

Neighbors reported hearing a mature male voice and a distressed young female voice at the home the morning of the killing.⁵ Valerie testified that the day after the murder, Lovejoy did not ask what had happened to Erin. He wanted to know what the police were asking and what they wanted from her.⁷

The 2007 Conviction and Death Sentence

The first trial took place in DuPage County in early 2007. The jury convicted Lovejoy of first-degree murder and found the killing was accompanied by “exceptionally brutal or heinous conduct indicative of wanton cruelty.” He was ruled eligible for the death penalty on two statutory grounds: that he killed Erin to prevent her from pursuing rape charges, and that the murder was cold, calculated, and premeditated.⁶ The jury sentenced him to death on February 15, 2007.⁹

Why the Illinois Supreme Court Reversed the Conviction

On September 24, 2009, the Illinois Supreme Court reversed Lovejoy’s conviction and death sentence and ordered a new trial. The problem was expert testimony about the bloody footprint, and specifically what the prosecution’s DNA expert, Tamara Camp, told the jury she had concluded.⁶

Camp had run a Tetramethylbenzadine (TMB) test on the substance in the footprint. It came back negative for blood, and her disclosed reports reflected that negative result. At trial, however, she testified the negative result was a “false negative” and that the substance was “apparent blood.” The defense had never been told she would offer that opinion. The Supreme Court found the surprise prejudicial because the negative TMB test had been central to the defense theory that the footprint was pre-existing and had touched something containing Erin’s DNA, such as skin cells or saliva, rather than her blood. With advance notice, the defense could have called its own expert or built a different strategy.⁶

The 2011 Retrial and Life Without Parole

Jury selection for the retrial began in January 2011 before DuPage County Judge Kathryn Creswell.² Prosecutors again sought the death penalty. Assistant Public Defender Mark Lyon led the defense.⁴

On February 8, 2011, the jury convicted Lovejoy of first-degree murder for the second time.¹⁰ This time it found him ineligible for the death penalty.⁸

On March 15, 2011, Judge Creswell sentenced Lovejoy to natural life in prison without the possibility of parole. She called the crime “shockingly evil and hateful,” saying, “I have seen a lot of crime scenes in the last 25 years, but none compared to this case. Natural life is the most I can award and it is deserved.” Valerie Justice told reporters after the hearing, “He got what he deserved, for the second time. This is bittersweet, and I would rather have my daughter.”¹

Later Appeal and Prison Litigation

Lovejoy appealed the 2011 conviction to the Appellate Court of Illinois, Second District, arguing the trial court had improperly barred him from the courtroom during one afternoon session and that a hearing should have been held on the admissibility of a forensic technique combining leuco crystal violet testing with super glue fuming. On May 8, 2013, the appellate court affirmed. It found his removal was justified by a documented pattern of disruptive behavior and that any error on the forensic issue was harmless given the remaining evidence.¹¹

While at Menard Correctional Center, Lovejoy filed a federal civil rights lawsuit in 2019, Lovejoy v. Lashbrook, alleging deliberate indifference to chronic migraines. The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois screened out most claims, and on October 27, 2020, Judge Staci M. Yandle granted summary judgment against him for failure to exhaust administrative remedies, dismissing the case without prejudice.¹² He is serving his life sentence in the Illinois Department of Corrections.⁸

1
Chicago Tribune. Naperville Man Gets Life Without Parole in Murder of Stepdaughter
2
Daily Herald. Aurora Man Faces Retrial in Stepdaughter’s Murder
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Chicago Tribune. Murder Scene Photos Shown
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Daily Herald. Prosecutor Says in Aurora Murder Trial
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Chicago Tribune. Girl’s Grisly Death Detailed
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FindLaw. People v. Laurence Lovejoy
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Daily Herald. Mom Testifies About Erin Justice Murder in Aurora
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CBS News Chicago. Man Gets Life for Killing Stepdaughter
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Naperville Patch. Laurence Lovejoy Sentenced to Life in Prison
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Daily Herald. Aurora Man Convicted Again of Murdering Stepdaughter
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Illinois Courts. People v. Lovejoy, No. 2-11-0289
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GovInfo. Lovejoy v. Lashbrook, Final Disposition