People v. Bean

Defendant, Harold Bean, was convicted of the murder of Dorothy Polulach (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1979, ch. 38, par. 9 — 1(a)) following a jury trial in the circuit court of Cook County. On the State’s motion, a death penalty hearing was held; the same jury found that defendant had attained the age of 18 years or more at the time of the murder and that, while two statutory aggravating factors existed, no mitigating factors existed sufficient to preclude the imposition of the death penalty (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1979, ch. 38, pars. 9 — 1(b)(5), (b)(6), (g)). The court then sentenced defendant to death on the…