Mother backs off statements she made to court officials about gun used in son's death in Rockford

ROCKFORD — Lois Ascher denied in court Thursday that she said a cop told her in 1994 about planting a gun used to convict Patrick Pursley in her son's murder.

Ascher, with her silver-colored hair tied atop her head, struggled at times to recall events and to respond to lawyer's questions while on the stand in circuit court. The Winnebago woman said her now-late husband had told her that he had talked to someone after Pursley's trial in the death of their son, Andy Ascher, 22. And that person had said the gun used to convict Pursley wasn't the one that killed their son. But she said she wasn't involved in that conversation and she didn't tell court officials in April 2017 that she was.

Her statements on the stand contradicted a report from Jody Miller, a Winnebago County State's Attorney victim's advocate. Miller and Steve Biagi, assistant state's attorney at the time, had met with Ascher and her daughters after a hearing where Biagi tried to get Pursley's bond increased for violations.

Biagi testified he thought Ascher's comments at the time were "jumbled" and that her claims weren't credible. But he said State's Attorney Marilyn Hite Ross, who was chief of the criminal bureau at the time and his supervisor, told him that a report would need to be written.

That report, which had been misplaced for a year and a half, wasn't revealed to the defense until last month. Pursley's attorneys said withholding that information is grounds for dismissal of Pursley's case, a motion Judge Joseph McGraw will consider on Friday along with hearing testimony by police involved in the case in 1993 and 1994.

McGraw granted Pursley a new trail last year after new ballistics testing was introduced. Pursley, 52, who maintains his innocence, was imprisoned for 23 years of a life sentence. An appellate court upheld McGraw's decision.

Biagi said on the stand Thursday that Hite Ross told him to wait until Pursley's case was back from the appellate court before telling defense attorneys about Ascher's claims. But Hite Ross testified that she was "very disappointed" that Biagi didn't follow her directive about notifying Pursley's lawyers.

Biagi left the Winnebago County state's attorney's office in June and now holds a similar job in Stephenson County. Hite Ross said Biagi was fired by Joe Bruscato, then state's attorney, for issues such as missing deadlines and his temperament in the office. Biagi said his departure was an "at-will separation, which doesn't require 'cause.'"

Pursley's defense attorneys from Jenner & Block in Chicago asked Hite Ross if she had followed up with Biagi or Rockford police after Biagi asked Assistant Deputy Chief Kevin Ogden to investigate Ascher's claims about a planted gun. She said she hadn't but that was Biagi's responsibility to do so.

Near the end of her testimony, McGraw asked Hite Ross whether she was concerned about asking Rockford police to "investigate one of their own." Hite Ross's response: "It didn't dawn on me. I didn't think of that."

Ogden said Biagi told him such an investigation was not urgent. No investigation was conducted.

Pursley's trial is set to begin Jan. 10.

A federal civil lawsuit filed by Pursley against certain Rockford police officers and forensic scientists from the Illinois State Crime Lab for allegedly fabricating and soliciting false evidence at Pursley's trial 24 years ago is on hold pending the outcome of his criminal murder retrial.

Georgette Braun: 815-987-1331; gbraun@rrstar.com; @GeorgetteBraun