Dad pleads guilty to 1st-degree murder of 2 sons; dodges death penalty (Glendale Heights, Illinois)

We've reported on dad KAUSHIK PATEL before. He has now pleaded guilty to 1st-degree murder in the horrible burning deaths of his two young sons. In doing so, he dodges the death penalty in Illinois. Of course, like a lot of these killer daddy sh**s, he doesn't really take responsibility. Oh no, he blame "marital turmoil" and his wife, the mother of these babies, who wanted a separation. In retrospect, it seems she had very good reason for wanting to get away from this @$$wipe, doesn't it?

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2010-05-18/news/ct-met-0518-patelplea-20100518_1_kaushik-patel-death-penalty-pleads

Father pleads guilty in sons' burning deaths
Glendale Heights man avoids death penalty
May 18, 2010By Art Barnum, Tribune reporter

Kaushik Patel's two young sons never saw it coming.

Instead of taking the boys to a family party on Nov. 18, 2007, as planned, their father took them to a Wal-Mart and bought six Matchbox cars. Then he stopped by a Speedway station and bought them candy at the same time he purchased more than a gallon of gasoline.

Once they returned home, he told Vishv, 7, and Om, 4, to take their new toys with them into the shower. But instead of bathing them, the man doused them with gasoline and set them on fire. Om suffered second- and third-degree burns to 80 percent of his body and died two months later on Jan. 17, 2008. His older brother, with burns on 90 percent of his body, lived until Feb. 20.

After more than a year of negotiations, Patel, 36, pleaded guilty Tuesday to the first-degree murders of both boys. DuPage County State's Attorney Joseph Birkett then dropped his request for the death penalty.

Judge Kathryn Creswell made Patel's fate clear to him.

"You have no possibility of ever leaving prison, and you will die in prison," she said.

In the days before the murders, Patel had told co-workers and friends that he and his wife were in marital turmoil and that he blamed his wife, Nisha, and her mother.

Assistant State's Attorney Alex McGimpsey told Creswell that the wife had told the defendant the day before the crime that she wanted one of them to move out of their Glendale Heights home.

The couple have since divorced, and she wasn't present at Tuesday's court hearing. Patel's two bothers and a sister-in-law were there but declined to comment.

DuPage County Public Defender Jeff York said Patel, who suffered burns over 40 percent of his body during the incident, has shown remorse.

But Birkett said, "The death penalty would have been appropriate."

"This brutal crime took the lives of two young, innocent boys," Birkett said. "Nisha wanted closure, and although she will never get over her loss, she is moving on."

In the hourlong hearing, Creswell questioned Patel through an interpreter about his understanding of what was occurring and his interactions with his three court-appointed attorneys. He stated that he understood that the minimum sentence for the murder of a child is natural life in prison.

During most of the hearing, Patel answered Creswell's questions with his head bowed, speaking softly and dabbing at his eyes with his sleeve and a tissue.