Jurors:
 Wife not liable for slaying

WOODSTOCK – A jury found Joann Goldstein not liable in the shooting death of her estranged husband.

Joann Goldstein wept quietly after the verdict was read. Joann Goldstein’s father, Adriaan Vlot, shot her estranged husband, Philip Goldstein, in the face before turning his rifle on himself outside Philip Goldstein’s Crystal Lake apartment just minutes before a court hearing in their custody case was about to start.

Philip Goldstein was in the driver’s seat of his car when he was shot, leaving the car to roll backward with his daughters, then 10 and 9, in the back seat.

Vlot is serving a life prison term for Philip Goldstein’s murder. The jury found Vlot liable for wrongful death and survival action and ordered $1.8 million in damages.

The wrongful-death lawsuit brought by Jerome Goldstein, Philip’s father, in McHenry County Circuit Court centered on Volt’s daughter and whether she helped or encouraged him in the crime. After deliberating for 3 1/2 hours, the jury found that she was not liable.

“I believe justice has been done,” Joann Goldstein’s attorney Peter Carroll said outside the courtroom.

Jerome Goldstein was not convinced. He said he hadn’t made any decisions on what to do next, but didn’t rule out an appeal.

“She got away with murder – twice,” Jerome Goldstein said outside the courtroom Friday night.

In his summation, Frank Adreano, attorney for plaintiff Jerome Goldstein, urged jurors to evaluate the circumstantial evidence presented and award damages to his client, who is representing Philip Goldstein’s estate.

Adreano argued that because she hated him, Joann Goldstein couldn’t admit that her former husband loved the couple’s two daughters.

“I asked her three times ‘Did Philip genuinely love his children?’” Adreano said. “She can’t and won’t say ‘yes.’ If there is no love, then taking their father away is no big deal.”

Adreano argued that Joann Goldstein was encouraging her father to kill Philip Goldstein.

“She was stoking him and pushing him,” Adreano said in his closing arguments. “The only thing she is sorry about is that daddy-waddy got caught.”

Joann Goldstein’s attorney, Peter Carroll, countered that the civil case was about Jerome Goldstein and his family seeking revenge.

“This is a vendetta,” Carroll said in his summation. “It’s an attempt to even the score.”

He further argued that Adreano had failed to prove that Joann Goldstein was part of a conspiracy in the wrongful death of Philip Goldstein. He said Vlot was a “lone wolf” who acted on his own and would not have wanted to involve the daughter he was trying to protect.