A Grayslake man faces life in prison after a jury convicted him of stabbing a victim over 40 times in a “heinous, unprovoked” attack where he tried staging the crime scene in Round Lake Beach.
Jesus I. Vargas, 33, of Grayslake, was convicted of first-degree murder following a trial that concluded on Friday.
The jury trial began on March 2 and lasted five days with prosecutors calling more than a dozen witnesses, including law enforcement officers, medical personnel and expert witnesses.
The Round Lake Beach Police Department and Greater Round Lake Fire Protection District were called around 3 p.m. on February 28, 2022, to the 2000 block of Apache Trail in Round Lake Beach for a report of a stabbing.
Officers found Brian Mahdee, 37, of Round Lake Beach, deceased in the garage of the residence from stab wounds.
The Round Lake Beach Police Department requested the Lake County Major Crime Task Force to assist in the investigation.
Law enforcement testified at trial that Vargas had non-life-threatening wounds to his arm.
An eyewitness told jurors that Vargas inflicted the wounds on himself in an attempt to make it appear that he had acted in self-defense after being attacked by the victim.
The witness also described how Vargas brutally attacked Mahdee while Mahdee was seated and on his phone.
Witnesses testified that Vargas attempted to clean up the scene and asked others present not to call the police.
Investigators testified that Vargas gave several inconsistent statements after his arrest and claimed to police that he was defending himself.
Investigators explained how evidence showed that Vargas attempted to stage the scene to support the self-defense claim.
The state’s attorney’s office said DNA recovered from the weapon was inconsistent with Vargas’s self-defense claim.
Medical personnel determined that Mahdee suffered more than 40 stab wounds throughout his body.
Vargas and Mahdee were believed to be in a romantic relationship, police previously said.
The defense for Vargas called two witnesses after prosecutors rested their case. Vargas was among the two and provided statements, which prosecutors said differed from his prior version of events.
Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart called the attack “unprovoked” and noted that Vargas began lying and attempting to hide his crime following the murder.
“His guilt was further revealed by his wildly inconsistent trial testimony. Despite these efforts, investigators and prosecutors showed the jury the truth of this heinous attack. We will support the victim’s family and loved ones while also making sure this offender can never hurt anyone again,” Rinehart said.
Vargas was being held in the Lake County Jail on a $3 million bond and Lake County Judge Mark Levitt revoked his bond after the verdict.
Vargas is facing a potential life sentence in the Illinois Department of Corrections after the jury found that the murder was accompanied by “exceptionally brutal or heinous behavior indicative of wanton cruelty.”
Vargas is scheduled to appear in court again on April 28 for a status hearing.