Was Maggio Asleep When Lockport Murders Happened? Fiancee Testifies

JOLIET — Marcelina Baliczek, the fiancée of Lockport double murder defendant, was asked on the witness stand whether Anthony Maggio was in bed with her at their condominium in Crestwood on the night when Ashtin Eaton, 32, and Eaton's 14-month-old infant bab, Hazel, were slain inside their Lockport apartment 30 minutes away.

A total of three witnesses were called to testify on Wednesday by Maggio's criminal defense lawyer Michael Clancy. By late afternoon, Will County Judge Amy Bertani-Tomczak learned that Maggio chose not to testify in his own defense in connection with the Oct. 2, 2020 murders of little Hazel Bryant and Hazel's mother.

Maggio was Hazel's father; he and Eaton had carried on an intimate romantic relationship after meeting through their jobs at the Amazon warehouse in Joliet.

The crime scene at 936 Hamilton St. showed no signs of forced entry; nothing was stolen, and the killer did not harm Eaton's oldest daughter, Jessica, who was 11 years old.

Eaton's ex-husband, not Maggio, is Jessica's father.

Maggio, Fiancée Both Worked As Suburban Paramedics

Baliczek testified Wednesday that on multiple occasions during their relationship, Maggio has cheated on her.

He cheated on her in 2019 when he became romantically involved with Eaton, resulting in the birth of Hazel. And then, about 10 days before the double homicide, Maggio sneaked out of their Crestwood condominium, while Baliczek was already asleep, she testified.

Maggio drove to Lockport to have sex with Eaton before driving back to Crestwood in the middle of the night, Baliczek acknowledged during Wednesday's testimony.

During questioning from Clancy, Baliczek told the courtroom she is now 28 years old. Since 2019, she has worked at a hospital laboratory conducting patient testing. More than eight years ago, she and Maggio both worked as emergency medical technicians for Trace Ambulance, which is based in Tinley Park.

"I met Anthony in July of 2016," Baliczek told the jury. "We both met at Trace."

She and Maggio began their romance that same year.

"He was very excited to become a firefighter-paramedic and trying to figure out his next steps," Baliczek told the courtroom.

Baliczek Drove To Lockport To Speak With Eaton Once

Jurors learned that Baliczek and Maggio have two daughters, who are now 6 and 4. Their youngest child was born less than two months before Hazel, the Lockport murder victim.

Back in 2020, Baliczek testified, she and Maggio lived together in a Crestwood condominium that Maggio owned.

"He bought it in the beginning of 2018," Baliczek testified.

"Who paid the mortgages?" Clancy asked.

"Anthony," she answered. "Anthony paid all the bills."

"Were there any bills not paid?" Clancy wondered.

"No," she testified.

Clancy put her on the witness stand to dispute the prosecution's assertion that Maggio was deep in debt and struggling financially at the time of the Lockport murders. Will County's prosecutors maintain that Maggio killed Eaton and Hazel after several days of heated arguments with Eaton over the idea of making Maggio pay court-ordered child support.

"Did he have any problems with money? Debts?" Clancy asked his witness.

"No," she answered. "Not that I'm aware of."

Maggio, Baliczek Face Problems In 2019

During questioning from Clancy, Baliczek agreed she and Maggio began to have problems in their romance in 2019.

"Anthony was cheating," she testified.

Baliczek told the jury that she figured out the passcode to Maggio's phone, and discovered he had a secret lover on the side.

"Yes, that was Ashtin," she testified.

"Did you look her up on Facebook?" Clancy followed up.

"Yes," Baliczek agreed.

After reviewing Eaton's Facebook page, "I found it. She recently had a baby," Maggio's fiancée testified.

Baliczek confronted Maggio about his secret romance with the divorced Lockport mother. She convinced him to take a paternity test. He did that, and it confirmed he was in fact Hazel's father.

After Hazel's birth, Maggio vowed to regain Baliczek's trust, she testified.

He installed technology on his iPhone so she could track his whereabouts; the engaged couple also attended marriage therapy during the spring of 2020.

Maggio "re-proposed," asking for Baliczek's hand in marriage again, in January 2020.

During the first eight months of 2020, Maggio had virtually nothing to do with Hazel, he didn't communicate with Eaton, and he was not paying Eaton anything in child support.

"He was trying to build back that trust," Baliczek testified. "It was better."

Still, the subject of Hazel's child support had not gone away.

"I was under the impression the child support was going to happen," Baliczek testified. "I knew it was going to happen eventually."

The jury learned that on one occasion, Baliczek drove from Crestwood to Lockport in hopes of speaking with Eaton about the topic of child support.

"You tried to find her family's address?" Clancy inquired.

"Yes," Baliczek agreed, adding that although she did not find Eaton, she did speak with Eaton's mother outside the house.

Clancy called Maggio's fiancée to testify in hopes of convincing the jury that his client couldn't have committed the Lockport murders because he was sleeping in bed with her back in Crestwood.

According to Baliczek's testimony, on the night of the murders, she got home from her job at the Olympia Fields hospital between 10:30 p.m. and 11 p.m.

"Did Anthony go to bed?" Clancy wondered.

"Yes," she testified.

"Did you wake up and Anthony was there?"

"Yes," she answered.

Baliczek told the jury she probably went to bed between midnight and 2 a.m.

She estimated she woke up the next morning, Oct. 2, 2020, "between 6 and 9 a.m. is when the kids would wake up," she testified.

Prosecutor Asks If Maggio Was Really In Bed With Fiancée?

During cross-examination from Will County prosecutor Christopher Koch, Baliczek acknowledged "I was exhausted" when she got home from her hospital job, and she was also a "heavy sleeper."

Ultimately, Koch emphasized to the jury, Maggio's fiancée did not know for certain whether Maggio remained in their bed the entire night of the Lockport murders.

Ten days earlier, Maggio sneaked out of their condo while Baliczek was asleep, so he could have sex with Eaton. That time, on Sept. 20, 2020, Maggio drove back to Crestwood before sunrise and his fiancée had no idea of his unfaithfulness.

As far as whether Maggio remained in bed with Baliczek on the night of the Lockport murders, "you don't know for sure, do you?" Koch inquired.

"No, I do not," she agreed.

And as far as Maggio's middle of the night trip to Lockport on Sept. 20, 2020, "Anthony left the apartment for several hours without you knowing?" Koch asked.

"Yes," she agreed.

Prior to calling Baliczek to testify, Clancy presented testimony from Dr. Karl Reich, who is one of the world's most noted DNA experts. Reich's scientific laboratory is in suburban Lombard.

Some of Dr. Reich's testimony was not necessarily favorable for Maggio.

For instance, Reich confirmed for the prosecution that Maggio's DNA was recovered from the bloody Husky box cutter knife used to slice open Eaton's wrist while she was struggling for survival on her kitchen floor.

Maggio's DNA was also recovered from both sets of her fingernail clippings recovered at her autopsy.

And Maggio's DNA, considered the major DNA profile, was recovered from the neck area of Eaton's T-shirt. She died from strangulation, according to prosecutors.

On the other hand, Dr. Reich revealed that the DNA testing performed upon on the infant pajamas Hazel wore at the time of her smothering did not contain the DNA of Maggio.

Hazel's pajamas contained DNA from at least two other contributors, according to Reich.

Most of the pajama DNA came from an unknown female, he testified. "We've demonstrated that it cannot come from Mr. Maggio," Reich told the courtroom.

Reich also testified there were unknown DNA samples collected by the Illinois State Police crime lab of three other unknown males from Eaton's T-shirt; plus unknown male DNA found on one of the two sets of Eaton's fingernail clippings.

There was also unknown male DNA recovered from the handle of the box cutter knife found near Eaton's body — in addition to the knife having DNA from Maggio and Eaton, Reich testified.

Clancy's third and final witness for the entire case was Maggio's father. After Maggio's father finished testifying, Will County Judge Amy Bertani-Tomczak dismissed the jury briefly so she could ask the double murder defendant a series of questions pertaining to his decision whether to testify.

Maggio told the judge he decided he would not testify in his own defense.

Now that all the evidence has been presented, both sides will make their closing arguments on Thursday morning. It's possible the jury could reach a verdict later that day.

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