Orlewicz To Be Sentenced In 'Thrill Kill' Case

[TigressPen]

Orlewicz To Be Sentenced In 'Thrill Kill' Case

WAYNE COUNTY, Mich. -- Jean Pierre Orlewicz, 18, of Plymouth Township, will be sentenced Monday after he was found guilty of first-degree murder in the Nov. 7 killing of Daniel Sorensen, 26, of River Rouge.

The sentence carries with it a life sentence without the possibility of parole.

Orlewicz fate will be determined by Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Annette Berry at 9 a.m. at the Frank Murphy Hall of Justice.

Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy has said that Orlewicz killed Sorensen, then cut off his head and burned his torso for the thrill of it.

Orlewicz's defense attorney claimed that the killing was in self-defense and the mutilation of Sorensen's body was done in a panic over possible reprisals by Sorensen's alleged mob-connected family.

Outside the courtroom, after the verdict was read, Sorensen's parents, James and Kim, made religious pleas on behalf of everybody involved. All the families are suffering, Kim Sorensen said, so "please pray for them."

James Sorensen was visibly overwhelmed with emotion after the verdict was read.

"All the guilty verdicts in the world will not bring our son back," he said.

Orlewicz testified this week that he decapitated the victim and burned his fingers to hide his identity because he feared the man had mobster relatives who would come after him.

It is a claim that was reinforced during closing arguments delivered by defense attorney Joseph Niskar.

Niskar asked the jury to consider the "fear factor" that he said came into play when Orlewicz brought a knife to a gunfight, knowing that his alleged victim carried a gun and was twice his size. Sorensen was 6 feet tall and 280 pounds.

There was no premeditation, no time to plan in advance, Niskar said. There was only a plan to set the stage for an extortion plot that went wrong.

The mutilation that occurred after the killing, the defense said, was the work of a person panicking over possible reprisals by what he thought were Sorensen's mob-connected family.

Prosecutor Robert Moran painted a different picture in his closing arguments – one of a person who had time to reflect on what he was doing, thus deserving the charge of premeditated murder.

Moran pointed out that Orlewicz stabbed Sorensen 13 times while the victim held up his hands to fend off the blows. Enough time would have passed, Moran said, for Orlewicz to have weighed the pros and cons of what he was doing.

Moran also said that the felony murder count should stick, since Orlewicz also stole the victim's gun after the killing – after he threw away the bloody rags from removing Sorensen's head, burning his fingertips and then lighting the body on fire.



http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/15898491/detail.html?treets=det&tml=det_7am&ts=T&tmi=det_7am_1_06000305122008

[PatC]

Does anybody know if there will be a live feed?

[bambam]

Does anybody know if there will be a live feed?

:0012: that's what i wanna know!! :z0tdntknw:

[TigressPen]

I checked ClickonDetroit and it doesn't show a live feed being available yet. I at least hope they film it so we can watch after the fact. I want to see that face when he gets LWOP which is what the verdict says he will be sentenced. This is just procedure. I don't think the Judge will go against the jury's decision.

[StoneFox]

Hello EV1 :0012:

LTNS

I was soooooooo hoping we would have live coverage of the sentencing. I would like to hear victim impact statements, if there are any.

[dojewo]

Hello EV1 :0012:

LTNS

I was soooooooo hoping we would have live coverage of the sentencing. I would like to hear victim impact statements, if there are any.Hi Katy, it would be nice to see this sentencing.

[StoneFox]

http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/15898491/detail.html

There is a link on this page that says watch the sentencing live. So far, nothing on the live link.

[dojewo]

http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/15898491/detail.html

There is a link on this page that says watch the sentencing live. So far, nothing on the live link.
I brought the link up too and nothing. Does anyone know what time it's suppose to happen?

[TigressPen]

I brought the link up too and nothing. Does anyone know what time it's suppose to happen?



Supposed to start at 9 AM but........ lol

[bambam]

all i get is this: Having troubles watching video?
Click here. Loading.


NOTHING!! aacckk!!!!!!!

[dojewo]

Supposed to start at 9 AM but........ lolWe get our hopes all up and then we get stepped on again. Woe is me!:1187603408.CR.Mothe

[TigressPen]

all i get is this: Having troubles watching video?
Click here. Loading.


NOTHING!! aacckk!!!!!!!



My player loaded, just no in court view yet.

[bambam]

My player loaded, just no in court view yet.

it won't load for me. :girl_sad:

did you have to "click here"??

[PatC]

http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/15898491/detail.html

There is a link on this page that says watch the sentencing live. So far, nothing on the live link.
I'm watching, but I can't get enough volumn to really hear it well.

[dojewo]

My player loaded, just no in court view yet.
That's what mine did too. Just sitting there with a screen that says ClickonDetroit

[gramvof14]

I hope they are going to show it, I heard there were going to be victims impacted statements.But Lord only knows if we will see it.I sure wish someone would have a CourtTv station I would even be willing to pay for it.:basic45:

[bambam]

mine won't load! what kind of player is it using?




i had a notice to update my quicktime player.. and didn't do it. could that be the problem??

[dojewo]

I'm in, I had to turn off my pop up blocker. Hope that helps others.

[dojewo]

I'm in thru Windows Media player

[gramvof14]

OH I am watching it also you have to click on the little window that pops up when you click the start arrow.

[dojewo]

OH I am watching it also you have to click on the little window that pops up when you click the start arrow.
Yes, mine did bring up a little window, now it went to black. I didn't get to hear anything

[PatC]

Yes, mine did bring up a little window

It's all over now. I hope someone shows it on TV cause, I couldn't hear much.

[dojewo]

It's all over now. I hope someone shows it on TV cause, I couldn't hear much.
Geez, I wonder if TTV will show exerpts of it?

[TigressPen]

I missed it also. The player wouldn't go to live court -- :( I hope they add it to the video section.

[dojewo]

I missed it also. The player wouldn't go to live court -- :( I hope they add it to the video section.I"m going to check on CNN.com to see if maybe, by chance they have it up there.

[PatC]

Geez, I wonder if TTV will show exerpts of it?

I hope somebody does.

What's everybody watching these days? I'm sure not on TruTV even during the early day. For example they've spent all this time on the HAQ case.... for crying out loud! How much suspense can there be when there's VIDEOTAPE of him?

[dojewo]

I hope somebody does.

What's everybody watching these days? I'm sure not on TruTV even during the early day. For example they've spent all this time on the HAQ case.... for crying out loud! How much suspense can there be when there's VIDEOTAPE of him?

None of us here are watching that one Pat. We are in such a dry spell right now. We need us a good trial!

[StoneFox]

I missed it also. The player wouldn't go to live court -- :( I hope they add it to the video section.

I missed it too. Never could get the player to work for me. :doh:

I guess there wasn't much to it.

[bambam]

I missed it too. Never could get the player to work for me. :doh:

I guess there wasn't much to it.

guess not. i missed it too. :girl_sad:

[StoneFox]

guess not. i missed it too. :girl_sad:

I was reading it is a mandatory life sentence without parole, so maybe the judge just pronounced it and off he went to the big house. :z0tdntknw:

[TigressPen]

I was reading it is a mandatory life sentence without parole, so maybe the judge just pronounced it and off he went to the big house. :z0tdntknw:



Yeah, I couldn't see the Judge sentencing him in any other way except LWOP. Guess maybe victim impact statements were only read by her prior to sentencing.

[TigressPen]

New email on this: From click on detriot

Orlewicz Gets Life For 'Thrill Kill'Jean Pierre Orlewicz, 18, of Plymouth Township, will spend the rest of his life behind bars for the Nov. 7 killing of Daniel Sorenson, 26, of River Rouge. Wayne County Circuit Judge Annette Berry sentenced Orlewicz Monday morning following a speech in which she asked the defendant why he would take the life of another man.

[dojewo]

New email on this: From click on detriot

Orlewicz Gets Life For 'Thrill Kill'Jean Pierre Orlewicz, 18, of Plymouth Township, will spend the rest of his life behind bars for the Nov. 7 killing of Daniel Sorenson, 26, of River Rouge. Wayne County Circuit Judge Annette Berry sentenced Orlewicz Monday morning following a speech in which she asked the defendant why he would take the life of another man.Good news Tigress, I wish Orlewiz would have answered the Judges question. He probably would have said he feared for his own life. Yeah right!

[TigressPen]

Good news Tigress, I wish Orlewiz would have answered the Judges question. He probably would have said he feared for his own life. Yeah right!



He'll probably brag about it in prison. :mad:

[Lynn Gweeny]

Beheading was 'evil,' judge tells Orlewicz
By Ben Schmitt • Free Press Staff Writer • May 12, 2008

Calling him evil, a Wayne County judge sentenced 18-year-old Jean Pierre Orlewicz to life in prison today for the stabbing death and decapitation of a 26-year-old River Rouge man.

Emotions ran high from family members during the 20-minute hearing in front of Circuit Judge Annette Berry. But Orlewicz, of Plymouth Township remained stoic and did not address the court when given the chance.

“I am grateful that you are going away for the rest of your life,” Berry said. “Because in my view, I believe you would have killed again.”

Orlewicz has no chance of parole on the April 16 first-degree murder conviction.

Orlewicz lured his friend Daniel Sorensen to a Canton home on Nov. 7 before slitting his throat from behind and stabbing him 12 more times in the garage. He subsequently beheaded him with a hack saw and burned his fingertips with a blow torch.

Sorensen’s father, James Sorensen, called the killing “the ultimate act of cowardice.”

“My son was a victim of a person seeking a trophy,” he said, choking back tears during his statement.

Orlewicz sat in front of Sorensen’s parents with his hands folded, looking straight ahead, without reacting.

Kimberly Sorensen, Daniel Sorensen’s mother, said she can’t bring herself to hate Orlewicz.

“I hate what he did. But I can’t hate him,” she said. “I look at him and I feel such an all encompassing degree of pain. If he had just made better choices, things would be so much different for all the lives that have been affected.”

Berry called the killing “an evil act.”

“There is a difference between mental illness in this country and evil,” she said. “But your actions, sir, are tantamount to evil. No two ways about it.”

Orlewicz’s accomplice, Alexander Letkemamn, 18, of Westland, pleaded guilty April 1 to second-degree murder and testified during the murder trial last month.

Letkemann testified that Orlewicz told him Sorensen owed him money and had his gun. Prosecutors have said Orlewicz, known as J.P., killed Sorensen for a thrill.

“He simply wanted to see what it was like to take a human life,” James Sorensen said of Orlewicz.

Letkemann said he assisted in cleaning up the scene to clear a $100 debt to Orlewicz and accompanied him to an empty lot in Northville Township, where they dumped Sorensen's torso. Orlewicz doused the torso in gasoline and set it on fire and later threw the head in the Rouge River.

Letkemann is serving 20 to 30 years in prison for his role in the murder.

Orlewicz’s lawyer, James Thomas, said he plans to appeal the conviction. He said he instructed Orlewicz not to speak today because of the appeal.

“We had a different view of this trial,” Thomas said. “It was a hard fought case.”

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080512/NEWS02/80512009/1004/NEWS

[TigressPen]

[QUOTE=Lynn Gweeny;209814]Beheading was 'evil,' judge tells Orlewicz
By Ben Schmitt • Free Press Staff Writer • May 12, 2008

Calling him evil, a Wayne County judge sentenced 18-year-old Jean Pierre Orlewicz to life in prison today for the stabbing death and decapitation of a 26-year-old River Rouge man.

“I am grateful that you are going away for the rest of your life,” Berry said. “Because in my view, I believe you would have killed again.”
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I think the Judge spoke the feelings of most others with that statement!! Good for her!