‘Poor little Jason’ guilty in 2009 Channahon murder
BY JON SEIDEL Sun-Times Media jseidel@suntimes.com February 17, 2012 1:40PM
Jason Orasco
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Updated: February 18, 2012 7:09PM
Jason S. Orasco could have sent Joshua Terdic a text message — a warning — while he waited outside his apartment in the dark.
Or, prosecutors said, he could have yelled out to the cops who caught his two accomplices smoking pot in a truck nearby.
He could have hit triggerman Matthew Edwards with a baseball bat. Or he could have stopped everything in Terdic’s apartment when Edwards had him hold a gun while he tied Terdic and girlfriend Lauren Vasilakis together.
Instead, Orasco let Edwards shoot the young couple in their heads. And for that, a Will County jury took two hours to find him guilty Friday of first-degree murder, attempted murder, aggravated battery, home invasion and armed robbery. The 27-year-old from Channahon with buzz-cut hair didn’t react, sitting motionless in a black suit, his back to a crowded courtroom.
The verdict left the Will County state’s attorney’s office with just one more suspect to convict for the July 7, 2009, home invasion on Channahon’s Blackberry Lane that led to 21-year-old Terdic’s death 10 days later. Vasilakis, who was 19 at the time, lived to testify this week and watch Orasco’s conviction.
Prosecutors called Vasilakis an “amazing survivor” who recognized the masked Orasco after he ripped her naked from the bed and tried to choke her.
But Michael Renzi, Orasco’s attorney, said his client actually stopped short during the robbery when he had his chance to kill Vasilakis and Terdic. Orasco didn’t cheer later with his co-conspirators when the crime appeared on the news, Renzi said, and that’s because Orasco never wanted to kill the couple.
Renzi said Orasco was simply afraid of Edwards.
“This is far and above what Jason signed up for,” Renzi said.
Assistant State’s Attorney Christine Vukmir mocked the argument. She called Orasco “poor little Jason” then pointed to him repeatedly, telling jurors “that guy right there” had several chances to stop the crime.
Fellow prosecutor Dan Walsh also raised his voice during an otherwise reserved closing argument to point out Orasco’s the one who told Edwards the couple shouldn’t survive the robbery — “They’ll snitch.”
“He used his words to put the bullet into the back of Josh and Lauren’s head,” Vukmir said.
Orasco’s sentencing hearing is scheduled to begin April 26. Edwards, a 19-year-old from Joliet, has yet to go on trial.
Mary Vetor, 26, and Ashley Hill, 19, also faced murder charges in connection with the robbery. Vetor drove the men to Terdic’s apartment, and the women began to wait for them in Vetor’s truck. A cop caught them smoking pot, though, and they drove away. They picked the men up at a cabin a few hours later.
A jury convicted Vetor after a trial last year, and she’s serving a 61-year prison sentence. Hill pleaded guilty to home invasion and got 11 years in prison.
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