Joliet Harrah's Casino Killer Robert Watson Gets New Trial On Appeal

JOLIET —In July 2023, Will County Judge Dave Carlson notified Robert Watson that he would spend the next 100 years in a cell at the Illinois Department of Corrections for committing the random murder of a downtown Joliet Harrah's Casino Hotel guest.

Watson stabbed 76-year-old Wisconsin sports bar owner Sam Burgarino 26 times on a Sunday night in March 2019.

"Mr. Watson, I've got to tell you, I still don't understand why," Carlson announced at the sentencing. "The planning, the movements, I've got to tell you. You planned, you waited, and you picked your prey and there's no other way to describe it. This is truly one of the most senseless criminal acts I've ever seen. I'm sentencing you to the maximum. I'm sentencing you to 100 years."

It turns out that the Will County judicial system is not through with Watson, after all.

In a 14-page ruling written by Justice Adrienne Albrecht, with agreement from fellow justices Liam Brennan and Lance Peterson, the Appellate Court of Illinois' Third District on Friday overturned Watson's first-degree murder conviction. He will get a new trial back in downtown Joliet, just two blocks away from where he murdered Sam Burgarino.

According to the three appeals judges for the Third District of Illinois: after a jury trial, Watson, was found guilty but mentally ill of first degree murder. He appealed his conviction, arguing that the court erred by denying his request for a continuance so he could obtain a third sanity evaluation; secondly, by allowing the State access to the sanity report of an expert defendant originally retained and permitting the State to call that expert as a rebuttal witness; and third, by rereading the implicit bias jury instruction to the jury, which defendant argues coerced the jury to return a guilty verdict.

"For the reasons that follow, we reverse and remand for a new trial."

The court's ruling went on to state: "once (Dr. Anna) Stapleton was appointed to work on defendant’s behalf to determine his sanity, the State could no longer retain her for the same purpose of providing an opinion on defendant’s sanity.

"Accordingly, we find that the circuit court erred in allowing the State to view and use Stapleton’s sanity report against defendant, as she was engaged to aid the defendant in preparation of his defense but was not being called as a defense witness to testify at trial. Nor should Stapleton have been permitted to testify for the State regarding that sanity report. This error was so prejudicial that it deprived defendant’s right to a fair trial. Thus, we must reverse and remand for a new trial. Because we reverse on these grounds, we need not consider the other issues defendant raises on appeal."

Related Joliet Patch trial coverage:

• Guilty Verdict In Harrah's Murder Trial Of Robert Watson
• 'Biased' Juror Causing Deadlock In Harrah's Murder Trial: Foreman
• Victim's Blood, DNA Ties Harrah's Transient To Murder: Prosecution