Witnesses say Kenneth Smith did not kill McHenry restaurateur; say they were told by others they did it

In recent hearings in a McHenry County courtroom for a man who served almost 20 years in prison for the murder of a McHenry restaurant owner, witnesses said others told them they did it.

Kenneth Smith, now 47 and living in Wisconsin, was convicted by three juries and sentenced each time to 67 years in prison for the murder of Raul Briseño, the owner of Burrito Express.

Smith was released from prison in May 2021, a year after the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois exonerated him.

He has maintained his innocence and is pursuing a certificate of innocence from the state that would clear his record. He also has filed civil lawsuits against multiple agencies.

Smith was 25 the night of March 6, 2001, and living in Park City when Briseño was shot to death at his restaurant in what has been labeled a botched robbery. He was convicted along with Jennifer McMullan, Justin Houghtaling and David Collett.

Defense attorneys Quinn Rallins and Russell Ainsworth have argued that Smith was convicted on false and coerced statements that police fed to McMullan, Houghtaling and Collett.

Vicki Brummett, the mother of Susanne “Dallas” DeCicco, was seen on a police-recorded video played in court the week of Oct. 27 tearfully telling investigators in 2005 that the wrong group of people were in prison for the murder. She said she told her daughter to go to police with what she knew.

Brummett said the gun used to kill Briseño belonged to her husband, and she had turned it over to police.

Tearfully, Brummett testified that she took her daughter to the police because “she needed to go in there and tell them what she wanted to tell them ... about the murder.”

Brummett provided testimony matching the story that DeCicco told police in the 2005 video.

DeCicco, who has since died, told police that Russell “Rusty” Levand, her then-boyfriend, was the shooter and her cousin Adam Hiland was with him. She said she knew they had her stepfather’s gun that night and went to look for them.

As she drove by the Burrito Express, Levand and Hiland ran out of the restaurant with Briseño and a restaurant employee, Eduardo Pardo, chasing them, DeCicco told police.

DeCicco, who said she had no part in the plans to rob the restaurant, said Briseño was chasing Levand and Hiland with a knife when Pardo grabbed Hiland, and Levand fired shots as he ran, striking Briseño.

At some point before being shot, DeCicco said Briseño yelled into her car to call the police. This was a detail police had not released and those who were convicted did not know, Smith’s defense attorneys have said.

Levand also pistol-whipped Briseño, which led to cracks in the gun, according to DeCicco’s account. DeCicco said she saw Hiland pulling Briseño’s hair from the gun. The men then jumped into her vehicle, Hiland covered in blood and Levand who “looked crazy” and screamed at her to drive away, she said.

DeCicco said she was scared and took off.

Levand threatened her to never tell anyone or he would hurt her and everyone she loved, she said. But she did tell other people before 2005, hoping one would go to the police.

Brummett said she drove by the restaurant that night and saw police lights. She saw Hiland after the shooting and said he had scrapes on his hands and legs that he had not had earlier. He said that he fell down some stairs.

Others also testified last week to being told that the trio had committed the murder, including Charlene McCauley, Hiland’s sister.

She tearfully testified that they had lived with Brummett in Johnsburg for a few months in 2000 and 2001. She was 15 and Hiland 16.

DeCicco lived with her father in McHenry, near the restaurant where they were the night of the murder, although she and Levand often were at Brummett’s house.

In the days after the murder, the three watched news reports of the murder “very intensely,” and her brother had bandages on his hands and wrists, McCauley said.

She eventually moved out of Brummett’s house, and a few months later Hiland told her that he, Levand and DeCicco were the ones “who actually committed the crime,” she testified.

McCauley said Hiland told her that they were smoking crack that night and decided to rob the Burrito Express for money to buy more drugs.

She said he was sad, overwhelmed and shaken up about it.

They “never talked about it again,” and she did not go to the police because she was scared, McCauley said.

Via Zoom, Roger Daniel Trumble, formerly of Spring Grove, testified that Hiland, who had lived with him and DeCicco’s brother for a short time in 2001, told him the same story.

He said they were “talking about murder and it organically came up.”

Trumble said he was concerned for the teen, who was “afraid and crying.“

“He seemed genuinely afraid that he was a part of it,” Trumble said, adding that Hiland told him “they planned to rob the Burrito Express and something went wrong; a man pulled a knife, and Rusty shot him.”

Trumble took Hiland to talk to a friend who was an attorney who advised Hiland not to do anything since someone else already was charged.

Trumble, who first gave this testimony in 2012, did not tell anyone in 2001 because he said he was scared he would be killed by Levand and face retaliation by police and prosecutors.

Assistant McHenry County State’s Attorney William Bruce challenged Trumble and pointed out that he let Hiland, who was a teenager, drink and smoke marijuana at his home.

Bruce also said to Trumble: “Adam tells you police arrested the wrong people. To your mind, innocent people are in jail, and you do nothing?”

“That is correct,” Trumble said.

Another witness, Patrick Anderson of McHenry, said he was a drug dealer and had done drugs with DeCicco and Levand, and bought cocaine from Briseño. He said he had taken Levand to the restaurant the week before the murder to buy cocaine.

Anderson said Levand told him while they were held in the McHenry County jail together in 2010 on unrelated charges that he and Hiland killed Briseño.

The witnesses who provided testimony last week said they do not know Smith, McMullan, Collett or Houghtaling. Anderson said he only knew Smith by sight from seeing him in the jail.

Briseño’s now-adult children, Alexandra Strohmaier and Raul Briseño Jr., said they still believe Smith killed their father, who was only 34 when he died.

Prosecutors have said they stand behind their case.

Judge James Cowlin will rule at a later date whether to grant Smith his certificate.