EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. — Timothy Banowetz, the man serving a 70-year sentence for murdering a prominent Edwardsville attorney and tying up his teenage children during a robbery, has been denied a motion to withdraw his guilty plea.
Banowetz was sentenced in December 2021 in the stabbing death of Randy Gori, who was found in his Edwardsville home in January 2020.
He took a plea deal right before the trial was to begin in October 2021 to avoid the possibility of being sentenced to life without parole.
In December 2022, the Madison County Circuit Clerk received a mailed motion from Banowetz to withdraw his guilty plea, months beyond the allowed 30-day window.
Banowetz claimed his mail was held up in prison.
At a Wednesday hearing, a judge agreed with prosecutors' assertions that Banowetz could not have mailed the motion from prison in December 2021.
Prosecutors said Banowetz had a $10,000 tuition bill coming due for his pharmacy school and started researching wealthy people in the St. Louis area in the months before Gori's death.
Haine has speculated that Banowetz settled on Gori because Gori was a very public figure, often pictured writing checks to philanthropic organizations or being featured in various publications for his Ferrari collection.
A witness, whom police sources identified as Gori's girlfriend, arrived at the home and interrupted the crime. That's when prosecutors said Banowetz became angry that his plan was falling apart and stabbed Gori to death.
With blood on his hands, Banowetz attacked the woman near her car, but her large German Shepherds protected her and she called 911, prosecutors said.
Banowetz left in Gori's 2020 Rolls Royce SUV, which was found nearby in the woods with his DNA on the steering wheel. Banowetz was found near the scene wearing a bloody shirt.
A note in his pocket detailed plans to tie Gori's family up, have them withdraw money from a bank, kill them and set the house on fire.
“We hope this ruling brings an end to this convicted murderer’s absurd legal gamesmanship,” Haine said in a statement. “We are going to continue make every possible effort to ensure this brutal individual serves every day of his 70-year sentence, so fully deserved, so that the family and loved ones of Randy Gori can continue to heal with a sense of closure.”
