Case of Mom Who Killed 3 Children Goes to Jury
The murder case against a 44-year-old woman went to the jury in Wheaton after defense attorneys insisted she was insane when she smothered her three young children after tucking them into bed.
Defense attorney Jack Donahue referred to the children as three angels and called the 1999 killings “despicable and monstrous acts.” But he asked jurors to concentrate on Marilyn Lemak’s state of mind.
Standing over Lemak, who had her head down and appeared to be trembling slightly, the attorney said: “Marilyn Lemak, as she sits there, remains trapped in the wreckage of her own mind.”
Prosecutors say Lemak knew what she was doing when she killed Thomas, 3, Emily, 6, and Nicholas, 7. They say she wanted to punish her husband over their pending divorce and his affair.
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