Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Catherine Peters remains steadfast in seeking justice for daughter, Michele, on the first anniversary of her death, and keeping Michele's memory alive for her young sons.
Since the 4 a.m. phone call she received one year ago today, Catherine Peters has lived with a dagger in her heart. On March 6, 2012, her only daughter, Michele Peters, 30, was fatally shot in the Chicago Heights home that she shared with her live-in boyfriend and two young sons. Sign up for the Oak Lawn Patch newsletter and follow us on Facebook. The boyfriend, George Kleopa, 33, has since been charged in Michele’s death. Kleopa has pleaded not guilty, maintaining the shooting was an accident. Prosecutors offer a different version of events, charging that Kleopa changed his story five times while being held for questioning by Chicago Heights Police. Michele grew up in Hometown and attended Oak Lawn Community High School. The slain woman’s…
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Monday, January 7, 2013
Cook County Judge Anna Helen Demacopolous will now preside over the case against George Kleopa, 33, who is accused of fatally shooting his live-in girlfriend last March.
A new judge and prosecutor have been assigned to the murder case of a Chicago Heights man accused of fatally shooting his live-in girlfriend last March, in a move that his defense attorney described as a routine. George Kleopa, 33, who is out on a $2 million bond, appeared Monday, Jan. 7 in Judge Anna Helen Demacopolous' courtroom, a change from Judge James J. Rhodes. Assistant State's Attorney Karen Sullivan will now be prosecuting the case. The court periodically rotates judges, prosecutors and clerks to different courtrooms. Kleopa's attorney Andrew Weisberg asked Demacopolous for a date further out for status to obtain more evidence in the case, incluing autopsy photos, Kleopa's statement, video and crime scene photos. Weisberg told …
Monday, October 15, 2012
The mother of a woman who was shot and killed in Chicago Heights in the spring will appear in Orange County, Calif., Family Court on Monday to determine who maintains custody of her daughter’s two young sons.
- POLICE & FIRE
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Monday, October 15, 2012
By Adam Townsend, San Clemente Patch Editor SAN CLEMENTE, CA -- Custody proceedings are moving ahead to determine the fate of two young boys whose father allegedly shot and killed their mother in Chicago Heights this spring. A hearing is set for Monday afternoon in the Lamoreaux Justice Center in Orange in which Rea and Jason Richmond of San Clemente, CA, are seeking custody of the boys. They are the sister and brother-in-law of George Kleopa, 33, who is currently out on bond on charges of shooting his live-in girlfriend and mother of his sons, Michele Peters, 30, in March. Peters' parents -- the children's grandparents -- Dave Bird and Catherine Peters have filed similar assertions of custody rights in Cook County family court. Kleopa …
Friday, October 5, 2012
Attorneys on both sides in the murder case against George Kleopa, 33, who is accused of shooting his live-in girlfriend Michele Peters, are still in the pre-trial discovery phase; after a brief hearing Thursday, Oct. 4, Peters' mother confronted Kleopa.
For the next few months, it's possible that pre-trial hearings in the murder case against George Kleopa, 33, will be as brief as the one held in a Markham courtroom on Thursday, Oct. 4 as attorneys for both sides exchange evidence and prepare their arguments. A Chicago Heights resident, Kleopa has been accused in the March 6 fatal shooting of his live-in girlfriend and the mother of his two young sons, 30-year-old Michele Peters. Peters was found fatally shot with a gunshot wound to the face in the Chicago Heights home she shared with Kleopa. He has pleaded not guilty to six counts of felony murder and was released from custody on $2 million bail in August. Kleopa made his appearance in a black suit and wearing glasses in front of Cook …
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
With her daughter's live-in boyfriend charged with her murder, Catherine Peters heads to court on Thursday to petition for custody and visitation rights for her grandsons.
The mother of a slain woman is heading to court on Thursday to seek custody of her daughter’s young sons. Catherine Peters has had but one brief visit with her 18-month-old grandson, Alex, since her daughter, Michelle, was found fatally shot in the face in her Chicago Heights home on March 6. Chicago Heights police initially questioned Michele Peters’ live-in boyfriend, George Kleopa, 33, in the hours following the shooting. He was eventually released without being charged pending state crime lab results of forensic evidence gathered at the scene. Subscribe to the Oak Lawn Patch newsletter and breaking news alerts. He was arrested on July 24 and has since been charged with first-degree murder. According to prosecutors, Kleopa told police …
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
George Kleopa, 33, pleaded not guilty to six counts of felony murder, Tuesday in the March shooting death of 30-year-old Michele Peters.
The arraignment of George Kleopa, 33, on murder charges in connection to the shooting death of his live-in girlfriend was a swift affair Tuesday morning in a Markham courtroom. Subscribe to the Oak Lawn Patch newsletter and breaking news alerts. Cook County prosecutors say Kleopa fatally shot Michele Peters, 30, in the Chicago Heights home they shared with their two young sons in the early morning hours of March 6. Michele Peters' family and friends say the young mom was planning to move with her children back to Hometown without Kleopa at the time of her death. Kleopa has pleaded not guilty to six counts of felony murder before Judge James Rhodes, said Cook County State's Attorney's Office spokesman Andy Conklin. Kleopa's case, which had…
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
George Kleopa, 33, will be arraigned Aug. 28 on first-degree murder charges in the shooting death of his live-in girlfriend, Michele Peters.
Less than a week after he posted $200,000 to bond out on a $2 million bail, 33-year-old George Kleopa was back in a Markham courtroom Wednesday, Aug. 15. Kleopa stood next to his attorney, Jeff Kent, in a dark brown suit as Judge Thomas J. Carroll set the Aug. 28 date for his arraignment on first-degree murder charges. He is accused of shooting Michele Peters, his live-in girlfriend and the mother of his two young children on March 6. Several of Peters' family members sat silently in the courtroom, as they have done in previous hearings. Kleopa did not glance their way as he exited the courtroom. For Michele's mother, Catherine Peters, who waited anxiously for Kleopa to be charged, it's just more of the same. "We're just waiting," …
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
A spokeswoman for the Cook County Sheriff's Office said George Kleopa, 33, of Chicago Heights was released Aug. 10 after posting a $200,000 bond.
A Chicago Heights man charged with the murder of his live-in girlfriend has been released on a $2 million bail, officials confirmed Tuesday, Aug. 14. Cook County prosecutors say George Kleopa, 33, fatally shot his girlfriend Michele Peters, 30, in the Chicago Heights home they shared with their two young sons in the early morning hours of March 6. Kleopa was given a $2 million D Bond in late July, which means he had to post 10 percent of it to be released. He posted a $200,000 bond and was released Aug. 10, a spokeswoman with the Cook County Sheriff's Office said. Peters was a former resident of Hometown. Family members say she and the children was preparing to move back to Hometown without Kleopa before her death. Kleopa's next hearing …
Thursday, July 26, 2012
Catherine Peters never gave up hope that crime lab results would lead to an arrest of her daughter's live-in boyfriend, who has been charged with her murder.
Since March 6—the night that her daughter, Michele, was found fatally shot—prosecutors and police detectives had been telling Catherine Peters to be patient. The man accused of killing her daughter, George Kleopa, 32, stood in a Markham courtroom the day before his 33rd birthday on Wednesday, waiting for bail to be set. Cook County prosecutors say that Kleopa fatally shot Michelle, 30, in the Chicago Heights home they shared with their two young sons in the early morning hours of March 6. Peters found out about her daughter’s death when she was summoned to the Chicago Heights police station at 4 a.m. from her Hickory Hills home. While police questioned Kleopa for 48 hours, he was released without being charged, even though police …
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
A Cook County judge set bail at $2 million for man accused of fatally shooting his live-in girlfriend in the face in March.
Bail was set at $2 million for a Chicago Heights man accused of killing the mother of his two children. George Kleopa, 32, appeared before Cook County Judge Darron E. Bowden in Markham on Wednesday morning, where he was charged with first-degree murder of Michele V. Peters, 30, formerly of Hometown. Peters was found fatally shot with a gunshot wound to the face in the Chicago Heights home she shared with Kleopa on March 6. Kleopa called 911 to report that Peters had shot herself, according to the criminal complaint. Kleopa appeared calm as he was led into court after being taken into police custody Tuesday, wearing a pink shirt, slacks and glasses. As Cook County Assistant State's Attorney Richard Stake related the facts of the case in …
Bob Oakes
10:52 pm on Saturday, April 13, 2013
Jon, I am Michele's uncle and I would love to speak to you regarding your post. Please contact me at Oakesy573@yahoo.com. Thank you, Bob more ›