MI- Teen guilty in beheading, to get life without parole

4-17-2008 Michigan:

DETROIT -- First, they cried. Then the parents of a River Rouge man offered prayers for the family of a teenager who stabbed, beheaded and burned their son.

Emotions overflowed Wednesday when a jury of eight men and four women convicted Jean Pierre "JP" Orlewicz, 18, of Plymouth Township of first-degree premeditated murder and other felonies in the gruesome case that catapulted into the national media when Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy labeled it a "thrill killing."

But when the parents of victim Daniel Sorensen regrouped, they offered nothing but love for the parents of the killer.
"We lost a son, but for the rest of his life, the Orlewiczes have lost the companionship of their son, too," said Kimberly Sorensen, the victim's mother, who lives in Westland. "We hope the community remembers them in their prayers, too."

Testimony in the trial that began April 7 painted a graphic, bloody and disturbing portrait of several suburban teens who knew for days that Orlewicz wanted to kill Sorensen, 26, but did nothing to prevent the ambush. Two even helped move the headless torso.

Orlewicz's sentencing on two murder charges and mutilation of a corpse is May 12. By law, he will get life in prison without parole.

When the verdict was returned, neither he nor his family cried. The former Canton High School student looked sadly at jurors.

He cast a glance at his parents only twice before deputies led him from Wayne Circuit Judge Annette J. Berry's courtroom back to jail.

His family and attorneys left without comment.

"I've never seen someone as manipulative as this. His behavior was remorseless," said Wayne County Assistant Prosecutor Robert Moran.

Moran said members of the jury didn't want to talk after the verdict, even with him, and were allowed to slip out of the fourth-floor courtroom by using a secured prisoner elevator. One juror who later waited for a ride in front of the courthouse declined to speak.

The Sorensens -- whose son was portrayed by the defense as a Mafia wannabe and shakedown artist who intimidated and preyed on younger teens -- said the verdict provided some closure.

"It can't make it right, but this is as close as it's going to get," said Alice Edwards of Livonia, a close family friend who attended every day of the trial.

"I don't know how they did it," Edwards said of the Sorensens. "I don't know how they made it through the trial every day. They have such deep resources, their faith that believes families will be together in the future."

Orlewicz admitted while testifying Monday that he stabbed Sorensen 13 times on Nov. 7, cut off his head with a hacksaw and used a blowtorch to try to obliterate the man's fingerprints. He said Sorensen pulled a gun and threatened to kill him when a scheme they devised to extort money from another teen went bad.

Orlewicz testified that he feared Sorensen. But others -- including star eyewitness Alex Letkemann, 18, of Westland -- said he talked openly about wanting to kill the man. Letkemann pleaded guilty to second-degree murder on the eve of a trial. He had faced first-degree murder charges, but prosecutors will recommend 20-30 years when he is sentenced next week by Berry.

"He wanted to come forward and tell the truth," Moran said about Letkemann's vital testimony. "It's almost as though by doing this he absolved himself of the horrible thing he saw."

Kimberly Sorensen said she and her husband told Letkemann's parents, Peter and Diane Letkemann, how grateful they were for his testimony, even though his description from the witness stand of their son's final moments was painful.

"We've been told that Alex feels remorse," Kimberly Sorensen said.

Immunity from prosecution was granted to another teen who testified about being called by Orlewicz to the murder scene to help move the body of the victim, who weighed 255 pounds. And Moran said the law didn't provide a way to charge another teen who didn't tell authorities until days before the trial that he acted as a lookout on the first day the slaying was supposed to take place and backed out of participating the day of the murder.

The motive in the case remains a mystery. The only clue witnesses offered was that Sorensen was in debt $400 to the well-to-do Orlewicz, whose family owns a manufacturing company.

"The biggest irony of all was he looked up at JP Orlewicz as a little cousin," said James Sorensen. "He would have done anything for JP, some not as smart as he should have. Everybody has warts."

Orlewicz insisted he killed Sorensen in self-defense when the older man pulled a gun during a shakedown attempt of another teenager.

Orlewicz described a life and death struggle, where he stabbed the much larger man while being "tossed like a rag doll." When Sorensen lay dead, Orlewicz said he panicked and tried to hide the man's identity because he believed Sorensen had associates in the mob who would seek revenge.

Sorensen had a self-promoted reputation as a gangster-like enforcer, which made him the perfect partner in a plot to frighten another teen out of money, according to Orlewicz.

But Letkemann said the extortion plot was a ruse to lure Sorensen into Orlewicz's grandfather's Canton Township garage, where a tarp had been spread on the floor, with knives, a hacksaw and cleaning supplies at the ready.

Letkemann said Orlewicz jumped Sorensen from behind and stabbed him and slit his throat, as planned. Letkemann helped clean up the garage, move the body to an empty lot in Northville Township and dump the head in the Rouge River at the Helm's Haven picnic area of Hines Park in Dearborn Heights.

In exchange, Orlewicz forgave a $100 debt, said Letkemann, who led officers to the spot where they found the head.

The jurors also heard testimony from friends of Orlewicz, who said he talked about planning perfect crimes, including robberies and murders. Some said he talked about wanting to kill Sorensen.

The jury asked for several exhibits and clarifications from Berry throughout deliberations. At one point, an aunt of Orlewicz said the family was encouraged that the length of deliberations might mean acquittal.

But Moran said the length only showed the jury carefully reviewed the facts because of the "seriousness of the case." ..more.. by Doug Guthrie / The Detroit News