Crime & Safety
Granat Murder Case Waits on Cell Phone Records
The Granat murder case might soon be moving into its next phase, more than two years later.
More than two years after John and Maria Granat were found brutally beaten and stabbed in the bedroom of their Palos Township home the trial to determine the couple's killers might be nearing.
At a status hearing Wednesday morning their son John Granat, 19, and his friends Christopher Wyma, 19, and Ehab Qasem, 22, appeared before Judge Neil Linehan in yellow jail-issued jumpsuits. The trio was on hand for the latest status update in a case that might finally be nearing a trial.
In what might be the last piece of discovery evidence, the prosecution informed the men's individual lawyers that Wyma's cell phone was still being cracked by the Secret Service who needed to call in Google for help gaining access to the locked device. It's a process that could take as much as six to eight weeks.
If that is in fact the last piece of outstanding evidence, the case could move toward pre-trial motions as soon as March 27, the next scheduled court date.
Steady movement toward a trial is something the judge is urging.
John and Maria Granat were found murdered in their bedroom on Sept. 11, 2011. Their only son John and three of his friends were charged with their murder within days.
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