Defendant claims self-defense in stabbing death

CROWN POINT | Jurors in a murder trial will have to determine whether a 57-year-old Hammond man stabbed his roommate out of anger or fear.

During opening statements Tuesday, Lake Deputy Prosecutor Christine Parry told jurors the relationship between defendant Benito Lesiak and roommate Scott Philips had been deteriorating in August when Lesiak stabbed Philips. Police had been called in a prior disturbance, Parry said.

Parry said after the stabbing in their Hammond home, Lesiak twice told responding personnel, "I stabbed him. He was hitting me."

Defense attorney Richard Wolter, however, said Lesiak didn't want any trouble. "He wanted to move out of the house," Wolter told jurors.

Wolter said Lesiak would testify to Philips being stabbed while he was lunging at Lesiak during the altercation.

"Nobody knows if he even saw the knife," Wolter said.

When police arrived, they found Philips still alive in a pool of blood. Philips later died in an Illinois hospital.

Lesiak is alleged to have told police he was thrown around and banged his head into a wall during the fight, but police stated in a probable cause affidavit neither the kitchen nor Lesiak showed evidence of such a struggle.