GUILTY IL - Mom, boyfriend charged with drowning 3 kids in Clinton Lake

[mysteriew]

Many facts in the investigation into the deaths of three children in Clinton Lake are inaccurate and should not be disclosed to potential jurors in the murder trial of Maurice LaGrone Jr., a defense attorney says in a court document.
LaGrone and Amanda Hamm, both 29, are awaiting trial on nine counts of first-degree murder in connection with the drowning deaths of Hamm's three children in September 2003.

LaGrone and Hamm escaped from Hamm's car but Christopher Hamm, 6, Austin Brown, 3, and Kyleigh Hamm, 23 months, remained in the back seat as the car sank into the lake.

LaGrone attorney Jeff Justice defended his request to keep certain facts of the murder case behind closed doors in a response filed with the Illinois Supreme Court. The state's high court has been asked to reverse a ruling by DeWitt County Circuit Judge Stephen Peters to close a hearing to bar a jury from hearing certain statements made by Christopher and Austin.

Peters strongly urged the prosecution and defense to work toward an early October trial date. The case will be tried in Champaign County, where it was moved because of extensive pre-trial media coverage.

http://www.pantagraph.com/stories/062905/new_20050629005.shtml

 

[mysteriew]

A man accused of drowning his girlfriend's three children in Clinton lake cannot get a fair trial in McLean County and should be tried elsewhere, his attorney argues.
Maurice LaGrone Jr., 30, and his former girlfriend, Amanda Hamm, 29, each are charged with nine counts of first degree murder in the September 2003 deaths of Hamm's three children. His trial is scheduled to start next month but may be delayed.

Defense attorney Jeff Justice told Judge Stephen Peters on Monday a recent electronic survey of 8,126 households in McLean County showed the potential jury pool may be biased.

http://www.pantagraph.com/stories/091305/new_20050913025.shtml

 

[mysteriew]

The trial of a man charged in the drownings of his former girlfriend's three children is scheduled to begin Feb. 6 in Bloomington.

Lawyers for Maurice LaGrone Jr. agreed with prosecutors today on a final set of deadlines designed to bring the case to trial more than two years after the children's deaths.

LaGrone is charged with nine counts of first-degree murder in the drownings of 6-year-old Christopher Hamm, 3-year-old Austin Brown and 23-month-old Kyleigh Hamm. The children were in the back seat of a car that sank into Clinton Lake on Sept. 2, 2003.
http://www.pantagraph.com/news/update9261.html

 

[PrayersForMaura]

Updated: Saturday, December 10, 2005 12:30 AM CST
LaGrone murder trial on track for Feb. 21 start

CLINTON - Maurice LaGrone Jr. is ready to begin his trial on nine counts of murder in February, according to his attorneys.

LaGrone defense lawyer Jeff Justice recalled comments Friday from LaGrone about the upcoming trial in which LaGrone and former girlfriend Amanda Hamm will face a jury on charges that they deliberately drowned Hamm's three children in Clinton Lake in September 2003.

Christopher Hamm, 6, Austin Brown, 3, and Kyleigh Hamm, 23 months, were in the back seat of their mother's car when it went into the lake front first. LaGrone was behind the wheel when the incident occurred.

More: http://www.herald-review.com/articles/2005/12/12/news/local_news/1011798.txt

 

[GreenEyedGirl]

Just an update:





Witnesses discuss wetness of LaGrone, Hamm's clothes
Testimony adds to dispute about whether pair were in sinking car


By JAN DENNIS
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS












Published Saturday, April 01, 2006

BLOOMINGTON - Defense witnesses testified Friday that a man and a woman charged with drowning her three young children in Clinton Lake were wet when seen at a hospital the night their car sank into the lake 21/2 years ago.

Defense attorneys say the witnesses dispute earlier prosecution testimony that Maurice LaGrone Jr. and then-girlfriend Amanda Hamm appeared dry, despite telling investigators that they escaped as the car slipped into the lake but couldn't save the children.

The testimony in LaGrone's murder trial touched off an out-of-court debate among attorneys over what happened to the clothes witnesses say the couple changed out of after the Sept. 2, 2003, incident.

More at link: http://www.sj-r.com/Sections/News/Stories/82539.asp

 

[santos1014]

Prosecutor: Kids died for mom's love life

POSTED: 8:54 a.m. EST, December 7, 2006


var clickExpire = "01/5/2007";Adjust font size:

DECATUR, Illinois (AP) -- A mother helped plot the drowning deaths of her three children to preserve her relationship with the man who killed them, prosecutors said in closing arguments Wednesday in the woman's murder trial.

Prosecutor Roger Simpson said Amanda Hamm, 30, has low self-esteem and needed a man to "validate her existence."

Hamm faces life in prison if convicted of first-degree murder in the deaths of her children, Christopher Hamm, 6, Austin Brown, 3, and Kyleigh Hamm, 23 months. The children died after Hamm's car sank at a Clinton Lake boat ramp on September 2, 2003.

EDITED BY DP DUE TO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT

 

[2sisters]

i hope the lesser charge is 20 years per child. Why don't these women just gvie the kids up. Jeez, make them wards of the court before killing them if you must get rid of them. When we become parents, that child is our main responsibility and comes before all others. When it comes down to it, all kids cramp your style when it comes to you relationships (no sex life with your spouse anymore, etc. )but )thats the sacrifice you make when you become a parent.

 

[kato]

Sick *itch!

 

[Mr. E]

Reminds me of Diane Downs, how she she murdered, or tried to murder, her three children because of a man.

The judge gave jurors the choice of considering an alternative lesser charge, endangering the life or health of a child, which carries a sentence ranging from probation to up to 20 years in prison.

Between this and the thread title, I'm confused. Are the children still alive? Surely she wouldn't get probation for murder.

 

[nanandjim]

Reminds me of Diane Downs, how she she murdered, or tried to murder, her three children because of a man.
Between this and the thread title, I'm confused. Are the children still alive? Surely she wouldn't get probation for murder.

Diane Downs staged the murder of her children because she thought that her ex-lover didn't want children and would come back to her if the kids were out of the picture. In actuality, the guy returned to his wife and was not ever going to return, no matter what. I believe that he made this clear to Diane. One of her children died. The other two were permanently damaged, one with partial paralysis and the other from the waist down.

This woman plotted with her boyfriend to get rid of the kids. All three children drowned. I believe that her boyfriend pleaded guilty and was already sentenced.

 

[cynpat2000]

Sick *itch!

Agree!!!! They ought to drown her and him...:furious:

 

[mum33004]

Agree!!!! They ought to drown her and him...:furious:

I agree. Drown them both for each kid. So that would be 3 times. EVIL *ITCH!!!:furious:

 

[KatK]

Here is a link to CNN's story on this case. I remember this case from a few years ago, I didn't quite know what to think then, and it's been quiet enough I am not sure what to think now. (I mean whether or not to believe she was battered and not in her right mind, or if she was more malignent.) I hope more information comes out during the trial. Certainly if they prove she participated in the deaths of her children she should be punished.

 

[Mygirlsadie]

And lets not forget Susan Smith...drown her two beautiful boys Alex and Michael because of some man who didnt want children....

 

[2luvmy]

This happened in my neck of the woods.

Sad thing is, her mom repeatedly asked for the kids!!!!!!!!

 

[nanandjim]

And lets not forget Susan Smith...drown her two beautiful boys Alex and Michael because of some man who didnt want children....

Yes, and I believe that this man used the kids as an excuse to break up with Susan Smith. Didn't she also sleep with this guy's father (the boss)? I can't remember.

 

[2sisters]

I cann not imagine killing my kids to keep a lowlife man. The kind of man who would be annoyed by his girlfriend kids is probably a lowlife.

 

[GlitchWizard]

The article said she needed a man to validate her existance. He existance was already validated three wonderful times over from each of her children. Now she is merely a waste of air.

 

[Jeana (DP)]

The article said she needed a man to validate her existance. He existance was already validated three wonderful times over from each of her children. Now she is merely a waste of air.

I've never understood that mindset. If you're nothing without a man then you're nothing with one - just have more baggage.

 

[GlitchWizard]

I've never understood that mindset. If you're nothing without a man then you're nothing with one - just have more baggage.

Yep - and the baggage is a man who is okay with being with someone who nothing.