Homewood, Alabama, US. On March 9, 1990, Homewood Police responded to a report of a murder from the victim’s roommate Melinda at the Raleigh Villas Apartments at 409-C Raleigh Avenue. The victim, Toni Maria Lim, lived on the second floor of the apartment complex with her roommate Melinda, who had been away for a few days.
There was no evidence of any forced entry. However, there were signs of a struggle in the apartment. The victim, who was nude from the waist down, was found lying on the bed in her bedroom. Her body had been partially covered with a blanket. When the covers were pulled back the investigators discovered that she had been hog-tied. Her hands were bound behind her back with stockings and this ligature was tied to a black rope with handles that ran to her feet and was secured around her ankles. Her wedding ring and keys were missing.
Fig.1 The crime scene after the blanket was removed. Her throat had been cut and she had been stabbed in the back of the neck. There was a man’s black t-shirt over the cut throat.
In addition to the bindings, her throat had been slashed and she had a single stab wound to the back of her neck. There was a man’s black t-shirt around her neck partially hiding the large slashing wound to her throat. Several cigarette butts were scattered onto the floor and were recovered as evidence during the crime scene search. Semen was recovered from the vagina and the anus, which was eventually compared to several subjects with negative results.
The Jefferson County Coroner/Medical Examiner performed an autopsy on Lim on March 10, 1990. Examination revealed an incised wound to the neck that severed the right jugular vein. The fatal wound was the stab wound to the upper back, which completely lacerated the right internal carotid artery resulting in extensive hemorrhage into the neck. The ligatures around both the ankles and wrists caused corresponding skin abrasions and bruises. The cause of death was stab and incised wounds with the manner of death being homicide.
Fig.2 The bindings on the victim. She had been hog-tied with her arms bound behind her back with her own stockings and her ankles and wrists were secured with an exercise rope.
All of the evidence was submitted to the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences (DFS) for examination. These included vaginal and anal swabs, bed sheets, ligatures, and burnt cigarettes. A partial DNA profile was located on the ligatures. The DNA from the swabs and cigarettes all belonged to the same unknown white male. The DNA on the ligatures (stockings, exercise rope) could not be excluded from the unknown DNA. In 1991 the case went cold.
On July 13, 2006, the Alabama Department of Forensic Science was notified that there had been a match of the unknown male DNA to a suspect in Illinois. The detectives learned that the suspect, Steven Alan Petric, had been charged with the murder and robbery of a woman, which had taken place in July 1994. However, Petric had been convicted of only the robbery and was due for parole.
Fig.3 Toni was 25-years-old.
On September 11, 2007, Petric was turned over to Alabama authorities after Jefferson County had obtained an Illinois governor’s warrant, which was needed for extradition. The Will County Public Defender’s Office took issue with the extradition because Petric was denied a hearing. This resulted in a 2-year legal battle between Illinois and Alabama, which was finally resolved in 2009. Petric sat in jail for 2 years during which time detectives monitored his jail conversations. Petric was a master manipulator, who had his ex-wife and two girlfriends sending him money and pornography.
In October 2009 Steven Petric was found guilty and sentenced to death by lethal injection for the capital murder of Toni Lim.
Fig.4 Steven Petric was found guilty and sentenced to death by lethal injection.
Update: August 2020
The Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals on Friday held that Steven Petric was denied adequate counsel at his capital trial and affirmed that his capital murder conviction and death sentence must be set aside.
Mr. Petric was convicted of capital murder in 2009 and sentenced to death. After he was denied relief on direct appeal, he filed a petition for postconviction relief, alleging that his trial counsel was ineffective.
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