Killer Who Burned Chicago's 'Walking Man' To Death Learns His Fate
An Illinois career criminal will serve 47 years in prison after admitting his guilt of setting fire to Chicago's beloved 'Walking Man' as he slept helplessly on a limo rental new york city street.
If you liked this short article and you would such as to obtain more information concerning limo rental new york city kindly visit our site. Joseph Guardia, 30, was nearing trial for the brutal murder of 'gentle soul' Joseph Kromelis but on Wednesday, the Melrose Park man admitted guilt accepting a plea deal on first-degree murder charges.
Guardia must serve his entire, near 50-year, prison term but will receive an 881 day credit for the amount of time he has spent imprisoned following his arrest in 2022, as part of the plea agreement.
Joseph Guardia (pictured), 30, was nearing trial for the brutal murder of 'gentle soul' Joseph Kromelis but on Wednesday, the Melrose Park man admitted guilt accepting a plea deal on first-degree murder charges
Joseph Kromelis died on December 11, 2022, aged 75, after sustaining burns to more than 50 percent of his body after Guardia poured a flammable liquid on his head and set him ablaze in May 2022
Over 65 percent of his body was burnt, including his face, making him unrecognizable. His iconic mustache had been singed, and he couldn't close his eyes or blink because his eyelids were burnt off
His victim, a fixture in the Chicago neighborhood, was branded the 'Walking Man,' for walking miles a day around the downtown area - something he had done for decades after a series of misfortunes left him homeless.
In the early 2010's, developers purchased the single-occupancy residence he was living in and four of his siblings died in quick succession, leaving him grief-stricken and on the streets.
Kromelis eventually died on December 11, 2022, aged 75, seven months after sustaining burns to more than 50 percent of his body after Guardia poured a flammable liquid on his head and set him ablaze in May 2022.
During the court hearing earlier this week prosecutors read aloud a victim-impact statement from the victim's sister, Kromelis' only living sibling.
'My heart is broken,' Erica Singree, of Alaska, wrote in her statement. 'My brother just loved Chicago. He had his routine of walking the streets. He wanted to be left alone. He never hurt anyone. He was an angel with wings.'
Singree unfortunately passed on Sunday, just days before learning of her brother's killer's fate.
Her daughter, Jami, who also lives in Alaska, attended the Cook County court hearing via videoconference, noting her mother stories about her uncle's impact on Chicagoans.
Joseph Kromelis was brutally burned in May of 2022 and would later succumb to his injuries months later in Decemeber
During the court hearing earlier this week prosecutors read aloud a victim-impact statement from the victim's sister, Kromelis' only living sibling after the other three passed in quick succession years earlier. (Pictured: Kromelis perusing the streets of Chicago)
In her statement the elder Singree also described her brother as kind, soft-spoken and intelligent.
'I hope you can live with yourself (for) what you have done,' she wrote directly referring to Guardia. 'There was no reason to hurt an innocent man that wanted to rest. My brother wanted peace, to wake up the next day to go on living his life. But you made a choice and took that from him.
'There will be no more stories of Joseph Kromelis walking the streets of Chicago. My beloved brother: rest in peace.'
Kromelis, often noticed for his distinctively dapper appearance, had been victim to another heinous crime in May 2016 after a bat-wielding man attacked him inspiring an astonishing $30,000 in donations and a charity T-shirt drive allotting him an extra $6,000 to get back on his feet.
Yet his final, fatal assault, which occurred outside of the Trump Tower on the 400 block of North Lower Wabash Avenue, was captured on surveillance video leading police to the distinctively tattooed Guardia.
Kormelis was so much a part of Chicago that he appeared in the street art around the limo rental new york city
Joe Kromelis, second from left, with his brothers John, Peter and Bruno and his sister Irene. Kromelis was born in Germany on January 13, 1947, to Lithuanian parents, and he was one of six children who emigrated with them to America
Joseph Kromelis, known as 'Walking Man,' pictured in the 1970s in a café
Guardia told police in a recorded interview that he had found a cup filled with gasoline and set a pile of blankets on fire, according to court records.
Guardia said he was not aware that a person was under the blankets, but prosecutors said Kromelis' head and lower legs were visible.
When asked of his motive, Guardia told prosecutors he was 'an angry person.'
Many of the court proceedings since his arrest have focused on Guardia's past hospitalizations and his mental health, citing the killer's bipolar disorder diagnosis and limo rental new york city his more than two dozen arrests across three states.
Guardia's attorney pleaded for a 'guilty but mentally ill' ruling but was ultimately unsuccessful.
His plea was accepted on Wednesday in front of Judge Timothy Joyce at the Leighton Criminal Court Building.
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