American homicide suspect, accused of being in accomplice in a mass murder On January 8, 1993, he and his high school buddy, Juan Luna, allegedly walked into a fast food restaurant in Palatine, IL and killed two owners and five employees. They then allegedly left the bodies in the store’s freezer. Nine years later, the two men were implicated by Degorski’s former girlfriend and they were arrested in May 2002. Police said they both confessed. On May 10, 2007, Luna was found guilty of all seven counts of murder. Degorski has not yet been tried but faces a life sentence or death if convicted.
Degorski was considered a loner, occasionally emitting obscenities when angry. The second-oldest of five chidren, his parents divorced in 1991. The marriage had been troubled and his mother had sought a restraining order from her husband for
“numerous incidents involving physical and mental abuse.” The father had been diagnosed with schizophrenia according to one of his mother’s lawyers as given in a newspaper account.In 1990, young James was charged with burglary of a locker at a construction site; the charge was reduced to a misdemeanor and he received a year’s sentence of court supervision and a fine. The following year he was charged with possession of a stolen car. That charge was reduced to criminal trespass. In 1992 he was charged with battery and unlawful restraint for punching his girlfriend and slamming the car door on her legs. In 1994 he was convicted for possession of marijuana in Arizona and in 1998 was arrested for driving under the influence.
Link to Wikipedia biography