Self-defense argued in Elmhurst bar murder trial
Karl Bomba was drunk the night he was ejected from the Spring Inn bar in Elmhurst, punched out a window and got into a confrontation with the bartender.
But DuPage County Assistant State’s Attorney Bethany Jackson says Bomba was unarmed and presented no danger to Ronald Dunbar, the Lombard man accused of stabbing him to death.
“He (Dunbar) doesn’t work for the bar. He’s just a regular guy. He’s an old guy who hangs out at the Spring Inn,” Jackson said Monday during her opening statement at Dunbar’s trial.
However, Dunbar’s attorney, Paul DeLuca, argued that Dunbar acted in self-defense, having come to the aid of a person he alleges was attacked by Bomba.
Dunbar, 56, is charged with first-degree murder. Dunbar chose to have the case heard by Judge Ann Celine O’Hallaren Walsh instead of a jury.
Jackson said in her opening statement that Bomba, 28, of Yorkville, and his girlfriend went to the Cuvee Cellars wine bar in Elmhurst after a wine crawl event on April 10, 2021.
His twin brother, Kurt, had been at a wine restaurant with a friend, and they all met up at Cuvee.
They were kicked out due to rowdiness, according to Jackson.
But Kurt Bomba testified the quartet left Cuvee voluntarily after the girlfriend broke a wine glass. He also testified his brother and the girlfriend were intoxicated. They went across the street to the Spring Inn, which Jackson described as a “townie” bar frequented by older people.
While they were at Spring Inn, Karl Bomba and his girlfriend went into a restroom “for some alone time,” Jackson said. When the bartender noticed, he said the group had to leave. He shoved both Bombas and a barstool out the door, she said.
Dunbar inserted himself in the situation, Jackson said.
Once outside, one of the Bombas threw the barstool at the glass door, and the bartender locked it. Karl Bomba punched the 4-by-6-foot window, shattering it.
The bartender came outside, and the Bombas approached him, according to a cellphone video taken by a woman from an apartment across the street. The Bombas tried to punch the bartender, per the video and according to Kurt Bomba.
Some bar patrons, including Dunbar, also came out. Two patrons began photographing the license plates on Kurt Bomba’s car, and one got pushed down on the ground, according to DeLuca.
It was then that Dunbar stabbed Bomba in the chest, Jackson said. He died two days later.
She said Dunbar tried to cover his tracks by going home and washing his knife.
DeLuca said the video showed “part of the rage and violence of Karl Bomba on that date.” He said Bomba had a blood-alcohol content of .23, nearly three times the legal standard for intoxication.
He described Dunbar as a gentle man, “never involved in a fight like this,” in contrast to “the Bombas and their fighting ways.”
DeLuca said the brothers struggled with the bartender after one of them grabbed the bartender’s face mask.
According to DeLuca, Dunbar tried to help the bartender remove the brothers but got punched. He intervened again outside to help his friend, who was 56 and had health problems, DeLuca said.
Even after being stabbed, Karl Bomba took a coffee cup out of his brother’s car and threw it at the bar, DeLuca said.
The Bombas and the girlfriend drove off. Kurt Bomba testified his brother slumped over, with his head on his lap.
Kurt Bomba said he didn’t realize his brother suffered a stab wound. He said he tried to reassure his brother, saying things would be OK and that they would pay for the broken window.
“We messed up. We’ll go back and apologize,” Kurt Bomba says he told his brother as he stroked his hair.
After seeing the stab wound, he pulled into a park, and he and the girlfriend performed CPR.