Bradley Yohn is an American criminal sentenced to 130 years in prison after being convicted in July 2023 of kidnapping and sexually assaulting a 77-year-old woman, Christine "Tina" Schmitt Lohmann, leading to her death. Yohn was apprehended on charges of home invasion, aggravated kidnapping, aggravated vehicular hijacking, residential burglary and aggravated criminal sexual assault, after the discovery of the body of a Virden man, Derek J. Banker Barnett, in the trunk of a "suspicious" vehicle. Yohn's choice to represent himself led to numerous issues, including arguing that a 911 call was not made, then introducing evidence of the call. His questioning of witnesses, including the victim's widower, was "combative", and at one point Yohn was excluded from the courtroom and restrained, following a disagreement over one of his submitted motions. He also had several altercations in court with his standby counsel. His request for an alternate judge partway through the trial was denied.
Brad Yohn/Bradly S. Yohn. Lot ot 2 Autographed Letters, Signed. Handwritten, Commercial #10 (4.125 × 9.5 envelope). Saint Louis, MO. Pmks: 1) February 13, 2024 & 2) February 29, 2024. Content unknown. SEALED.
An Adams County, Illinois, jury has convicted Bradley Yohn of a brutal kidnapping and sexual assault of a 77-year-old great-grandmother just hours after a bizarre closing argument from the defendant, who was representing himself during the trial and claimed he was not a “creep.”
Yohn had no reaction when the verdict was read.
Yohn was convicted of home invasion with a deadly weapon, criminal sexual assault, aggravated kidnapping, aggravated vehicular hijacking, aggravated criminal sexual assault and residential burglary in the attack on Christine “Tina” Schmitt Lohman on the side of the road on Nov. 9, 2021. Yohn sexually assaulted her in her in her car, chased her to her nearby home when she briefly escaped, kicked down the door, and terrorized her even more, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors said that at the end of the attack, Yohn sprayed Lohman with carpet cleaning and then ran away. Maybe he believed she would not step forward, said Assistant State’s Attorney Josh Jones. But Lohman had the courage and strength to step forward, the prosecutor said. She told her husband and others what happened.
“And despite the blood and despite the shame, Tina did what she needed to do,” Jones said.
Jurors heard evidence about what she experienced in the hour-long incident, the injuries she sustained, and the pain and trauma she endured in her final days. Lohman passed away before the trial.
Yohn maintained his innocence. He said that if he really did it, he would call the defendant, “a piece of shit.”
“Excuse my terminology, your honor,” he said. “But I’d call him a piece of shit. Because that’s what he would have been.”
He maintained throughout his closing arguments that the state’s case featured inconsistencies and false evidence, using the phrase “blood by special effects on the floor”. Yohn denied there was blood such as on the couch or the chair of the residence. He denied that Lohman was ever thrown down the stairs.
The defendant maintained that prosecutors were telling falsehoods and being manipulative in their arguments. For example, he construed Assistant State’s Attorney Laura Keck’s voice as being “unnatural” during her opening statement. At the beginning of his closing argument, he said that prosecutor Jones had “words”.
As part of his pitch for innocence, Yohn discussed Lohman’s sex life – at which point Keck and Jones looked at each other. Then Yohn discussed the victim’s private parts, saying it was common knowledge that at a certain age, people could not “secrete lubricants naturally.”
Jones’ jaw dropped.
Yohn maintained his innocence through the end of his argument, growing emotional.
“As for the rest of it, so you can send me home where I belong because I’m not a sick perverted creep,” he said. “Not at all. I’m not a sick, perverted creep at all.”
The jury returned a verdict after less than two hours of deliberations.i
VIDEO: Bradley Yohn Trial: Prosecutor Details Gruesome Kidnapping, Sexual Assault of 77-Year-Old Woman | https://youtu.be/RW8RWTmzCZ0
Archiving Protocol:
• Handled with White Gloves ab initio
• Photo Pages/Sheet Protectors: Heavyweight Clear Sheet Protectors, Acid Free & Archival Safe, 8.5 × 11, Top Load
• White Backing Board—Acid Free
Shipping/Packaging: Rigid Mailer 9.5 × 12.5. White, self seal, stay flat, kraft cardboard, no bend. Each rigid mailer is made of heavy cardboard, which has strong resistance to bending and tearing. Thicker that the USPS mailers. Shipping cost never more than it absolutely has to be to get it from me to you.
i Jury quickly convicts man for kidnapping, sexually assaulting a 77-year-old great-grandmother following bizarre closing argument (2023) Law & Crime. Available at: https://lawandcrime.com/crime/in-bizarre-closing-argument-man-denies-being-creep-who-sexually-assaulted-a-77-year-old-great-grandmother/ (Accessed: 21 February 2024).