WHEATON, Ill. — A mother who fed her three children drug-laced peanut butter, then smothered them in their beds, could face the death penalty now that a jury has convicted her of first-degree murder.
Marilyn Lemak's lawyers were unsuccessful in convincing the jury that she was insane when she committed the 1999 slayings. Judge George Bakalis will sentence Lemak, 44, who is eligible for life in prison or a death sentence.
After sitting through three weeks of testimony and arguments about the killings, David Lemak, the father of the children, said he was relieved by Wednesday's verdict.
Surrounded by his parents and new wife, he held up a photo of his children — Thomas, 3, Emily, 6, and Nicholas, 7 — as he fought back tears.
"Certainly, one of my regrets is that I won't have a chance to see what kind of impact on the world they could have made," he said.
Prosecutors said Lemak knew what she was doing when she killed the children, contending she wanted to punish her husband over their pending divorce.
After smothering the children, she slashed her wrists with a knife and stabbed a photograph of her estranged husband with his new girlfriend.
She pleaded not guilty and her lawyers used an insanity defense, arguing that she was delusional and severely depressed. They said she felt David Lemak had abandoned the family and that she wanted to kill the children and herself so they could be reunited in a happier place.
The jury, which deliberated for nine hours Tuesday and Wednesday, rejected two alternative verdicts — guilty but mentally ill and not guilty by reason of insanity.
Lemak's lawyers failed to make their case, juror Giovanni Lombardo said.
"They couldn't prove that she was insane at the time of the murders, and that's pretty much what they were trying to do," he said.
Defense attorney Jack Donahue said he was disappointed in the verdict and felt "entrapped by the process regarding insanity that's very difficult to sustain in the state of Illinois."