A Wicker Park man charged with killing at least six kittens, then replacing each one with a look-alike bought off Craigslist so his mother would not catch on, will head to a jury trial that is now to begin Monday.
Thomas Martel, who remains free on electronic monitoring, appeared by Zoom on Wednesday alongside his attorney, Brandon Brown Jr., for what had been scheduled as a routine status hearing. Brown told Judge Sharon Kanter he intended to ask for a continuance, explaining he had just wrapped up another trial and needed time to rest and prepare, according to a representative from the Garrido Stray Rescue Foundation, whose court advocates have attended Martel’s court hearings for almost three years.
Kanter took a brief recess to consider the request, according to the foundation’s advocates. When she returned, she noted the case had been sitting on her docket since August 17, 2023, and walked through its lengthy history, including the numerous hearings, motions, evidentiary rulings, witness testimony, and cross-examinations that had piled up over the past three years, the foundation’s representatives said. The judge then denied Brown’s request and set the case for a jury trial beginning Monday at 9:30 a.m. at the Skokie courthouse…