Cook County State’s Attorney Richard A. Devine announced the charges made against a Chicago man who was responsible for the brutal death of a 71-year-old man in his own apartment. The victim was targeted for money to finance drug habits and was tricked by the son of the apartment’s maintenance man, which ultimately led to the cold-blooded killing of the alone man, and the robbery and arson committed along with the first-degree murder.
Renaldo Hudson, the son of the maintenance man of the apartment located at 7458 Kingston, Chicago, brutally tortured and killed the 71-year-old man who lived alone in his home unit. The defendant was found guilty of First-Degree Murder, Aggravated Arson, and Armed Robbery, and was subsequently sentenced to death on the grounds of committing the murder during the course of an Armed Robbery. The jury found no mitigating factors sufficient to preclude the imposition of death sentences.
On June 6, 1983, the defendant tricked Folke Peterson – a 71-year-old retired carpenter who lived alone in his home unit. The defendant posed as the man to fix the light issues the victim asked to be repaired in order to come into the old man’s unit and proceed as planned. A few days prior to the succeeding events, the defendant mentioned to their neighbors of his acquired information on the victim’s possessions and cash. At approximately 7:00 pm, the defendant, intoxicated and high from smoking cocaine laced joint, knocked on the door of the victim. For a few minutes, the defendant pretended to be fixing the lights until the victim turned his back, to which the defendant took as the chance to attack. The defendant put the victim in a headlock, took the knife the victim was holding and used it to slice the man up, plunging the knife into the victim’s lower abdomen and to his neck. This incident led to eight-hour torture, where the defendant watched the victim struggle.
Following the defendant’s first attack, he proceeded to take what he came for – the old man’s money and other possessions. The defendant demanded that the victim turned over his possessions while continuously stabbing the victim as he spoke. The old man begged for his life to be spared, to which the defendant responded by slashing his throat. After a few moments of contemplation, the defendant decided that attempted murder was just as bad as murder itself, and concluded that he would watch and wait for the 71-year-old victim to die. During the course of the defendant watching the victim succumb to death, he turned the television on. At around 3:30-4:51 am, as the defendant was watching “The Bowery Boys” while it aired, the grueling eight long hours of torture ended for the victim. The defendant then hid the murder weapon in a chair, spread foam cushion over the apartment of the victim, and set the apartment and the victim on fire as he made his escape.
At around 6:00-7:00 am, the Police and Fire Departments arrived at the apartment complex after responding to a call from the defendant’s aunt, who reported the smell of smoke. Furthermore, the defendant’s aunt submitted to Detective Catherin Reardon, the victim’s personal belongings found in a big which also belonged to the victim. A blood-soaked jacket was also recovered from a brown paper bag that was hidden behind the couch in the house. The defendant was arrested on June 7, 1983, and was questioned at around 9:45 am. The defendant confessed all his actions to an Assistant State’s Attorney who questioned him.
The jury unanimously found that Renaldo Hudson is guilty as charged, and must be sentenced to death for the brutal, cold-blooded crime the defendant has committed against an innocent victim. Besides, the defendant’s criminal history, in which the pattern of criminal conduct was established at a very early age of 13, also demonstrates the justified incarceration and death penalty charge. The defendant has reportedly been involved in several felony crimes and has demonstrated disobedience during probation and incarceration, by which it was also revealed that the defendant was on probation during the time he murdered the old man. Moreover, it was revealed that over the course of his sentence, the defendant had had over 20 disciplinary reports, which include two escape attempts and possession of a gun.
Cook County State’s Attorney Richard A. Devine commended the Assistant State’s Attorneys Peter Troy and Christine Cook for their exemplary work on the case. State’s Attorney Richard A. Devine also thanked the Chicago Police Department and the Chicago Fire Department for their collaborative efforts on the case.
Updated: September 30, 2020