CHICAGO (AP) - A formerly homeless man has been sentenced to 54 years in prison for the 2010 slaying of a 94-year-old Chicago retiree who had once taken him in.
Cook County Judge Stanley Sacks ordered 46-year-old Gilbert Feliciano to serve the prison sentence for home invasion, robbery and the murder of Stanley Letkiewicz, the Chicago Tribune (https://trib.in/2pjRjTg) reported.
Letkiewicz, a World War II veteran and retired machinist, had noticed Feliciano begging for money outside of a store and decided to allow him to stay at his home. He paid Feliciano to clean or fixing things in the basement and the attic.
Letkiewicz’s relatives said the living arrangement became strained after Feliciano’s behavior became erratic and violent at times.
Authorities said Feliciano approached Letkiewicz on Sept. 3 while he was taking out the trash. Prosecutors said Feliciano asked him for $40. When Letkiewicz didn’t give him the money, Feliciano forced Letkiewicz into the home, beat him up and stole $100 from him.
Letkiewicz identified Feliciano as his attacker, but police hadn’t arrested him before Oct. 13, when a neighbor found Letkiewicz badly beaten in his home, said Jamie Santini, assistant state’s attorney. He was taken to the hospital, where he told authorities who his attacker was before he died Nov. 23.
The Cook County medical examiner’s office said he had died from head injuries from an assault.
Court records show Feliciano was arrested at a relative’s nearly a year after the attack. He had fled to Ohio, but returned to the Chicago area after his mother died.
He was found guilty of home invasion, robbery and murder in December.
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Information from: Chicago Tribune, https://www.chicagotribune.com
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