Jury selection began Monday for a man charged with killing a Winfield nurse with a rubber mallet.
Raju Rawal, 67, of Merrillville, is charged with murder in the Feb. 23, 2023 death of Haley Losinski, 36. He has pleaded not guilty.
Her mother called the cops after discovering her daughter’s body in an upstairs bedroom days later.
Rawal admitted later to police they had a sexual relationship. Court records indicate he may have been jealous Losinski was also seeing other men. They first met 7 to 8 years earlier at her local Marathon gas station in Winfield where he worked and she was a customer, according to the affidavit.
During the trial, Judge Natalie Bokota will have to decide if jurors will hear from a different boyfriend who was also investigated during the case as a potential suspect.
The Post-Tribune is not naming the man, since he has not been charged with a crime in the case.
Bokota is expected to hold a hearing to determine if he will take the stand. If that happens, he will plead the Fifth.
Deputy Prosecutor Arturo Balcazar, with co-counsel Shannon Phillips, argued Monday morning in a hearing for motions in limine, or what to bar from the jury, that it would be a hit against the prosecution if jurors saw a potentially different suspect.
Defense lawyer Kevin Milner argued they would learn of the investigation either way, such as in jury instructions or his closing arguments, and the scope of his questions would be very limited.
“I should be able to tell them,” he said.
Balcazar said the man was last seen with Losinski on Feb. 20, days before her probable death. There was no DNA tying him to the crime and his phone was not in the area when she died, he said. He was never a serious suspect, the prosecutor argued.
Milner said his client’s DNA wasn’t found on the mallet, either. The case centered on the videos showing a man entering and leaving the home. There were other doors, he told Bokota.
In court filings, Milner argued the other man, Rawal’s co-worker at the same gas station, started a relationship with Losinski when Rawal went to India for a month in December 2022.
Within weeks, Losinski soured on the man. When the other man texted her on Feb. 17, she responded, “no more,” on Feb. 20.
During the Losinski investigation, they found child pornography on the man’s phone, leading to criminal charges, the lawyer wrote. Milner argued he was a “large” 20-something man, while Rawal, his “frail” client, couldn’t have killed Losinski.
Elsewhere, one of the first responding officers, and an initial crime scene supervisor, Winfield Police Sgt. Stephen Garpow is expected not to testify.
In a hearing Friday, town lawyer Jeff Williams told Bokota that Garpow is on leave and expected to be fired. A town board of works hearing hasn’t yet been scheduled. Milner said in court Monday he is facing “various allegations,” including theft.
Milner said he wanted to address it with jurors to question Garpow’s credibility on the stand. Bokota denied the request.
Balcazar said in a hearing Friday he expected to only call Garpow to talk about “one” thing at the scene. By Monday, he told Bokota he wouldn’t testify.
Winfield officials have not responded to requests for comment.
Winfield Police arrived at 5:40 p.m. Feb. 27, 2023 on the 11200 block of Pike Place.
The victim was found without underwear and her pants pulled down to her ankles. She wore a “distinct gold bracelet.” There appeared to be blood on the bed with the master bathroom in “disarray” with the shower rod and curtain pulled off the wall.
The mother told police she last saw her daughter when she dropped her off at the home around 10:30 p.m. Feb. 20.
The coroner’s office noticed Losinski’s body had red marks around her neck. An autopsy showed she died from blunt force trauma with “multiple blows” to the head. Her death was ruled a homicide.
Home security cameras captured a man in a white Toyota Rav4 showing up at her house several times from Feb. 20 to 27. Each visit ranged from 5 to about 45 minutes.
Footage showed the same man with a “distinct walk” on camera pulling in her driveway around 3:33 a.m. Feb. 23. He appeared to go into the house using a garage clicker. The driver left at 3:57 a.m., keeping the vehicle’s lights off until he pulled out of the driveway.
Investigators believe Rawal was the last person who saw Losinski alive, the affidavit states. Police later found “hundreds” of calls or texts between them. He denied he was the man seen repeatedly on camera.
Later in the police interview, Rawal admitted they were “friends with benefits,” had “regular sex” and he “loved” her.
Rawal declined a third police interview without a lawyer. He was arrested with what appeared to be smeared blood on his shoes, according to the affidavit.