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Victims profile: Bartender Jeffrey Weides,
38, and patron Richard Bartlett, 48
Method of murder:
Shooting
Location: Chicago, Illinois, USA
Status: Sentenced to death in 2002. Commuted to life in prison
eithout parole on January 12, 2003
Luther Casteel
At JB's Pub in Elgin in 2001, Casteel was booted
out for harassing female customers and employees. Roaring drunk and
enraged, he shot straight home, shaved his hair into a mohawk and
changed into military fatigues, armed himself with several guns and
returned to the bar.
Screaming, "I am a natural born killer," he shot
bartender Jeffrey Weides and customer Richard Bartlett to death and
wounded 16 others before being wrestled to the ground by bar patrons and
employees.
At his trial, Casteel almost dared a Kane County jury
to impose the death penalty.
"I'm not someone who asks for mercy or pity for my
actions," he said during a stunning half hour of testimony. "I have
absolutely no fear of anything anyone can put upon me."
Casteel found guilty of 35 of 37 charges
By Sara Burnett - The Daily Herald
November 2001
Luther Casteel knew just what he was doing when he
drove to JB's Pub armed with four guns and opened fire, killing two men
and injuring at least 16 others, a Kane County jury said Wednesday.
Jurors found Casteel guilty of 35 of the 37 charges stemming from the
April 14 shootings at the Elgin bar, including charges of first-degree
murder for the deaths of patron Richard Bartlett and bar manager Jeffrey
Weides.
Gunman Kills 2, Injures 21
The New York Times
April 15, 2001
A gunman opened fire in a crowded bar early today,
killing two people before he was subdued by customers. At least 21 other
people were injured.
The police said that employees had ordered the man,
Luther V. Casteel, 42, of Elgin, to leave the bar, JB's Pub, and that he
returned with several guns. Mr. Casteel was charged with first-degree
murder, attempted murder and other charges.
Luther "Luke" V. Casteel
April 15, 2001
The man accused
of shooting 18 people in a crowded bar outside Chicago was an ex-con
obsessed with guns and the movie "Natural Born Killers" who
shaved his head and donned fatigues before the attack.
Police said
42-year-old Luther "Luke" V. Casteel was asked to leave JB's Pub for
hassling a female patron and returned a little more than an hour later
carrying two handguns, two shotguns and 200 rounds of live ammunition.
Once he started shooting witnesses said he laughed and screamed: "I'm
the king, how do you like me now?" Two people were killed and 16 others
wounded by gunfire.
The victims
were bartender Jeff Weides, 38, and patron Richard Bartlett, 48, both of
Elgin, a blue-collar neighborhood about 35 miles west of Chicago.
Casteel was
described by acquaintances as a divorced construction worker. Police
said he had served 13 years in prison on a 1978 armed robbery
conviction.
