WILLMAR, Minn. – In the slaying of Willmar grandmother Lila Warwick, prosecutors say the teenagers played three distinct roles: the mastermind, the lookout and the killer.
The mastermind was allegedly Warwick's own grandson, Robert Inocencio Warwick. The lookout pleaded guilty, apologized and was sentenced in juvenile court. This week, Brok Junkermeier — the 19-year-old who stabbed and strangled Warwick — goes to trial. Jury selection begins Tuesday.
"This isn't a whodunit case," said his attorney Kent Marshall. "We know who killed Lila Warwick. The issue for the jury is not whether he committed murder, but what degree of murder they should convict him of."
Junkermeier has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder charges for allegedly carrying out the July ambush robbery and attack that he and Warwick, who was 17 at the time, had been planning since December 2012. Whether prosecutors can prove such premeditation could be key to a first-degree conviction.
Evidence presented in the Kandiyohi County Courthouse could also preview Robert Warwick's trial, not yet scheduled, and reveal why the teenagers targeted Lila Warwick, 79, whom family, neighbors and fellow churchgoers have remembered as a doting grandmother and devoted volunteer.
The homicide shocked Willmar, a west-central Minnesota city of about 19,500, and a grieving family suddenly was forced to confront the fact that "Robbie" was allegedly involved.
"We are trusting that justice will be served in this young man's life," said Cheri Ekbom, Lila Warwick's daughter said of Junkermeier. "I am hoping just to see him have to pay, to pay with time behind bars for taking my mom's life."
Eight months after her mother's death, Ekbom misses chatting with her when driving home from work or walking the dog.