Prosecutor: Killer of ex-Bear's girlfriend jealous

[March 05, 2009]  CHICAGO (AP) -- Marni Yang practiced at a gun range and bought a book titled "How to Make a Disposable Silencer" weeks before killing the pregnant woman she believed had taken her place in the life of a former Chicago Bears player, a prosecutor alleged Wednesday.

Yang later took steps to cover what she'd done, ditching stolen license plates on the car driven to and from the crime scene and disposing of the gun in a bucket of wet cement, according to Lake County prosecutor Jeff Pavletic.

Pavletic outlined his case during a Wednesday hearing at which Yang, 41, of Chicago was ordered held without bond on first-degree murder charges in the Oct. 4, 2007, shooting death of Rhoni Reuter.

Reuter was seven months pregnant with the child of Shaun Gayle, a former All-Pro and member of the Bears' 1985 Super Bowl-winning team, when she was fatally shot seven times in her Deerfield condominium.

Yang did not enter a plea, but one of her attorneys, William Hedrick, said later she isn't guilty.

"Right now it's just at the one-sided accusatory stage," he said.

Pavletic said Wednesday that Yang was jealous of the 42-year-old Reuter because of her relationship with Gayle, who maintained in a statement that he considered Yang a friend but the two never dated.

"My opinion is this happened because this individual wanted to replace Rhoni," Gayle told reporters after Wednesday's hearing.

Pavletic suggested the plan to kill Reuter dated back at least two months before the slaying to Aug. 3, 2007 -- the day Yang purchased "How to Make a Disposable Silencer" on the Internet.

After reading what items she'd need, "She goes to a Home Depot and purchases all the items," Pavletic said. He said Yang also was seen firing a 9 mm gun at a range and had gotten the grips changed on a 9 mm weapon in the weeks before the slaying.

On the day of the shooting, Yang allegedly came to the door of Reuter's condominium and opened fire when the door opened, Pavletic said.

Authorities later found Reuter on the kitchen floor, both she and her fetus dead. Investigators found 9 mm casings at the scene.

Yang also made incriminating statements before and after the slaying, telling a friend she planned to kill Reuter and later admitting to the same person that she had done so, Pavletic said.

The friend has told authorities that Yang threw away sweat pants, a jacket and a wig she had put on before the slaying, the prosecutor said. Yang also admitted to the friend that she dropped the gun into a bucket of wet cement and dumped the bucket in another trash bin, he said.

Investigators have determined that Yang bought a plastic bucket of anchoring cement at a Home Depot the day after the slaying, Pavletic said.

The friend also told authorities about seeing Yang throw license plates into a trash bin that Yang had said she had stolen to put on a rental car "so the plates wouldn't come back to her." Neither the plates, the gun nor the clothes Yang allegedly wore for the slaying have been found.

Just this past weekend, Pavletic said, the friend led investigators to a forest preserve where Yang allegedly had buried something shortly after the shooting. There, authorities found a silver and pearl bracelet with the word "pregnant" on it, matching one Reuter had owned.

Pavletic declined to identify the friend or say what led investigators to recently speak with the person. But he said the friend recently wore a court-approved recording device and Yang made additional incriminating statements that were captured on tape.

Hedrick, the defense attorney, cautioned against accepting the friend's version of events.

"Our view is that the outside witness has motivation that has yet to be explored in court," he said.

Pavletic said prosecutors are likely to add a charge of intentional homicide of an unborn child when the case is presented to a grand jury. He said the office has not decided if it will seek the death penalty.

[Associated Press; By DON BABWIN]

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