Lake County prosecutors are seeking to introduce Robert Crimo III’s banking records at his upcoming trial to show his purchase of the rifle they say he used to fatally shoot seven people at the 2022 Highland Park July 4 parade.
The motion for banking records was filed last week, and it could be discussed at Crimo’s next court hearing. That hearing was scheduled for this week, but now is set for September because of scheduling conflicts.
In the motion, prosecutors argue that the banking records are relevant evidence that should be admitted at trial.
Crimo’s banking statement shows that he spent $544 to buy a rifle at an online gun seller on Feb. 7, 2020, and that he paid a $25 processing fee in order to pick up the firearm later that month at a Lake Villa gun store, prosecutors said.
The weapon is the Smith & Wesson AR-15 style semi-automatic rifle Crimo used to indiscriminately spray gunfire on the crowd at the parade in downtown Highland Park, according to authorities.
Fifty people were shot, including the seven who were killed, authorities said.
Crimo had a checking account at a Highland Park bank, which prosecutors said they had obtained via subpoena. The new motion asks Judge Victoria Rossetti to determine that the records will be admissible at trial, which is set for February.
The next case management date, which is scheduled for Sept. 12, will be Crimo’s first courtroom appearance since a June 26 hearing during which prosecutors and his attorneys expected him to accept a negotiated plea agreement. Crimo, however, declined to agree to the plea deal, which carried a sentence of life in prison.
He would face the same sentence should he be found guilty of the parade killings at trial. His trial is set to start on Feb. 24.
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