Siblings Recall Night of Kramer Family Murders in Darien

Angela Kramer remembers waking up in the middle of the night to shattered glass and screaming.

It was about 3 a.m. on March 2, 2010. Her brother Anthony also woke up from a loud noise and then what sounded like a heavy object hitting the floor.

“I heard my brother say ‘Oh my god’ and heard a gunshot go off,” Anthony Kramer said.  “I heard multiple shots go off.”

The Kramers recounted the night of three killings in their home on Tuesday and Wednesday during Johnny Borizov’s trial at the DuPage County Courthouse. Their father Jeffrey, mother Lori and Michael Kramer were all shot to death by Jacob Nodarse. Borizov, the ex-boyfriend and father of Angela’s child Nicholas, is charged with first-degree murder and solicitation of the family's murder.

Angela Kramer, sitting calmly on the stand in a dark purple blouse, spoke about Borizov's hostility and the tense encounters with her family in the months leading up to their deaths.

The defense questioned some of Kramer's actions and choices during that time, including a response on a child custody-related form where she agreed that her relationship with Borizov was equal. This drew several objections from Assistant DuPage County State's Attorney Joe Ruggiero.

Even as Borizov's defense challenged Kramer, her description of Borizov was consistent across more than 4.5 hours of testimony on Tuesday and Wednesday.

"I was afraid he was going to steal (Nicholas) away from me if I didn't leave with him that night," Kramer told Defense Attorney Susana Ortiz, in regards to an incident on May 6, 2009, where she said Borizov was being difficult with her and her family.

Prosecutors argue that Borizov became so fed up with the Kramer family that he manipulated and coerced his friend Nodarse to kill them.

Nodarse was the source of the shattered glass on March 2, 2010 as he used a hammer to break into the Kramer family home. He shot and killed Jeffrey Kramer, then his wife Lori as she came to a landing to see what was going on.

"I heard my mother scream, a scream I had never heard before in my life," Anthony Kramer told prosecutors.

The oldest Kramer sibling gave about 10 minutes of testimony in all. The jury also heard from evidence technicians and other Darien police who responded to the house that night.

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