Shooter Says Johnny Borizov Orchestrated Darien Family Killings

According to Jacob Nodarse, there was someone else behind his decisions before, during and after the killing of three Darien residents in 2010.

That man, he said, was Johnny Borizov. Nodarse and Borizov once spent time together as friends, and they were in the same room again on Thursday for Borizov's murder trial at the DuPage County Courthouse in Wheaton.

Prosecutors say Borizov manipulated Nodarse into killing Jeffrey, Lori and Michael Kramer on March 2, 2010 in Darien. Nodarse broke into their home and shot them all multiple times. They say he instructed Nodarse to kill his ex-girlfriend Angela Kramer as well, but she hid in a closet and survived.

Nodarse, wearing an orange jumpsuit, answered questions about his childhood, his drug use and his friendship with Borizov during his first day of testimony, according to media reports.

Borizov told Nodarse he was connected to organized crime and that he "covered" for Nodarse so that he could join the group without a proper initiation, Assistant DuPage County State's Attorney Joe Ruggiero first said on Tuesday. But once Borizov wanted to hurt the Kramer family, he began to tell Nodarse that he had to kill them in order to be officially initiated into his group.

Nodarse had long struggled with depression and was abusing drugs during the time he was friends with Borizov. Prosecutors say Borizov took advantage of Nodarse's fragile mental state to convince him that his mob crew would hurt him and also his sister in Florida. Borizov falsely mentioned that the Kramers wanted to kill Nodarse too because he would be expected to testify in a custody hearing for Borizov and Angela Kramer's son, Ruggiero said.

"Eventually, it came in my mind that I had to do this to save my family," the Daily Herald quoted Nodarse as saying on Thursday. "I gathered up as much courage as I had and broke the window."

Nodarse had not slept in the days leading up to the murders. He said he followed Borizov's instructions about dressing in layers and to "kill everyone in the house." He didn't, however, check the closet in Angela Kramer's room where she was hiding.

After killing her mother, father and younger brother, Nodarse left the house and drove to Florida. In Indiana he dumped the clothes he wore during the shootings as well as the gun he used. Police arrested Nodarse outside his parent's Florida home the next day.

Nodarse in 2011 pleaded guilty but mentally ill in the murders of the Kramer family.

The state's direct examination of Nodarse continues Friday, followed by cross-examination from Borizov's attorneys.

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