Yorkville Restaurant Mass Murder: Family Opposes Killer's Release From Parole

YORKVILLE, IL — A woman related to one of the five victims of a 1972 mass shooting and robbery at a Yorkville restaurant is asking the Illinois Prisoner Review Board to oppose the convicted killer's release from parole, according to a report from WSPY News.

Carl Reimann, now 84, was found guilty of killing two patrons of the since-shuttered Pine Village restaurant, one cook, a bartender and a part-time dishwasher.

• David Gardner - 35, grocery store manager, father of 4, a patron
• Catherine Rekate - 16, high school student, the dishwasher
• Robert Loftus - 48, WWII Veteran, a patron
• John Wilson - 48, the bartender
• George Paschade - 74, the cook

On the night of Dec. 29 more than 50 years ago, Reimann walked into the restaurant with his accomplice and then-girlfriend, Betty Piche, and pulled a gun. Piche removed cash from the register, but instead of taking the money and leaving, Reimann shot the five victims to death.

RELATED:

• Mass Killer As Non-Compliant For Parole By IDOC
• Yorkville Mass Murderer To Be Re-Released

In 1973, Reimann was sentenced to 150 years for each murder and 60 years for armed robbery. Piche was sentenced as an accomplice in the crimes, paroled in 1983 and died in 2004. Due to Illinois sentencing laws at the time of the killings, Reimann was eligible for parole.

His parole — which began in 2018 and stipulated that he is not allowed in Kendall County — is slated to end June 18, 2039, Patch reported. He would be 98 years old.

According to the Illinois Murderer and Violent Offender Against Youth Registry, Reimann is living in Bolingbrook.

Lisa Sleezer, who is the niece of one of the victims, told the Yorkville City Council that family members would be "greatly affected" if Reimann is released from parole since "our last protection is his stipulation of his parole."

"We fear that he will attempt to request to be released from parole again, and we also fear that if he is released, this would mean he could reside again in Kendall County, and he could also directly contact the victims if he so chooses to do so," Sleezer said, according to WSPY News.