June 10, 1989|By Shawn Pogatchnik.
Defense attorney Lee Bastianoni told jurors in his closing arguments Friday that his client, 23-year-old neo-Nazi William Leinberger, would have to be ``an incredible moron`` to have threatened to kill a witness testifying against him.
After about an hour and a half of deliberations, the jury convicted Leinberger.
Leinberger, who has pleaded guilty to drawing hate slogans and swastikas on a Chicago Transit Authority bus in March, 1988, was convicted on one count of intimidation and faces 2 to 5 years in prison. Two other felony counts, dating to 1987 vandalisms of Jewish-owned businesses, are pending against him.
Assistant State`s Atty. Anthony Calabrese applauded the jurors` decision, asserting that they decided the case on the facts and were not biased by Leinberger`s ``abhorrent views.``
The state`s case against Leinberger centered on his appearance in Misdemeanor Court on May 24, 1988, to face a charge of vandalizing the interior of a bus with anti-Semitic and racist slogans.
At that appearance, Leinberger approached the bus driver, the only witness against him, and said, ``If you say anything to the judge, I`ll kill you.`` After the bus driver approached the bench to tell the prosecuting attorney of the threat, Leinberger said, ``You`re dead.``
Leinberger, a pale, blue-eyed redhead with a tattoo of a swastika on his right arm, was arrested immediately and charged with intimidation. Police found in his possession a swastika medallion on his key chain and a photo of Hitler.
On Friday, as the jury deliberated, Leinberger paced in the court`s holding cell, pausing to read from the Bible.
Leinberger`s twin brother, Fred, sat on the benches outside the criminal court`s bullet-proof glass barrier throughout the trial, wearing boots and dark blue shirt and pants, his arms folded, his stare intense. He, like his brother, is a member of the SS Action Group, a national neo-Nazi organization. Leinberger still faces two felony charges for allegedly smashing windows of two Jewish businesses on the North Side, Hobfoll Kosher Meat Market, 3305 W. Bryn Mawr Ave., and Kaufman`s Bagel Bakery, 4411 N. Kedzie Ave. The incidents took place on Nov. 10, 1987, the 49th anniversary of Kristallnacht, when Jews were killed and their businesses destroyed in Nazi Germany.
Leinberger is expected to be sentenced July 6. Calabrese said he plans to gain convictions on all three felony counts, but Lienberger`s attorney, Bastianoni, said they plan to appeal Friday`s verdict.
