By Dan Campana Elgin Courier-News Making his first formal court appearance since being accused of murder, Alberto Sepeda requested a speedy trial Wednesday on charges he shot a man to death during a Nov. 13 altercation in Elgin. Sepeda, 28, remains in Kane County Jail on $5 million bail facing multiple counts of murder, home […]
3 Acquitted in Slaying
Reasonable doubt: State fails to prove Aurora men were involved in murder of Johannessen Bill Catching – Staff Writer Geneva – Soon after a jury acquitted them in the slaying of a 75-year-old Aurora Township widow, Michael Turner and two other Aurora men formed a tight circle near the audience and hugged each other. “My […]
3 found not guilty in slaying
Jurors acquit Aurora men Linda Young Lester Salter remained calm, but Corey Jenkins and Michael Turner sobbed Thursday as a Kane County jury returned verdicts of not guilty in their trial for the 1993 murder of an elderly Aurora Township woman. A jury of nine men and three women took a little more than three […]
3 guilty 1 cleared of drug charges
Frank Callahan Three men have been convicted and one cleared of federal drug charges stemming from a phony cocaine deal in the parking lot of an Aurora fast-food restaurant last April. A U.S. District Court jury deliberated for about four hours before find Maximo Hernandez, 36, of 716 Mountain St., Aurora, not guilty. His three […]
A bittersweet first day off Death Row
For 11 years, Manuel Salazar sat in a 9-by-6-foot prison cell, dreaming of the day he would walk free. The day arrived Friday, when a Will County jury decided that Salazar was not guilty of murder – but of involuntary manslaughter – in the fatal shooting of a Joliet police officer in 1984. But Salazar […]
A deal for Mattys murder
Sara Burnett With jury selection set to begin in his murder trial, a South Elgin man accused of beating his girlfriend’s 3-year-old son to death pleaded guilty Tuesday to a lesser charge in a deal with prosecutors and was sentenced to 15 years in prison. Jeffrey Johnson, 39, pleaded guilty to aggravated battery of a […]
A village trustee faces disorderly conduct charges
By Sarah Freishtat of The Beacon-News Members of a Montgomery family alleged in police complaints that a village trustee, in a profanity-laced confrontation, accused them of shooting off fireworks, police records show. Steve Jungermann, who is three years into his current term on the Village Board, now faces misdemeanor disorderly conduct charges. The charges stem […]
Appeals court overturns conviction in beating robbery
Bill Catching Citing a technicality, an appeals court has ordered a new trial for a Boulder Hill man convicted and sentenced to 105 years in prison for the 1990 beating and robbery of an Oswego Township man and his 11-year-old daughter. Sixteenth Circuit Court Judge James Wilson failed to fully inform Joseph W. Hampton, 21, […]
Attempted Murder Charges Dismissed
Marie-Anne Hogarth Aurora– The Kane County State’s Attorney’s Office has dismissed charges against an Aurora man who had been suspected in a shooting that left another man critically injured. David Gutierres Rico, 23, of the 300 block of Oakwood, turned himself in Nov. 7, after a warrant was issued charging him with attempted murder, aggravated […]
Attorneys claim coma inducing beating was self defense
David R. Kazak – Daily Herald Staff WriterDuring a late-night, drunken brawl a year ago this month, Jonathan Nuyen’s skull was cracked in two places. Fluid filled his head, nearly choking the life out of his brain and causing a nine-day coma during which doctors gave him no more than a 5 percent chance of […]
Attorneys push for silence calls attention to Kane murder trial
Jeff Hodson Not long ago, the press was criticized for its excessive coverage of the David and Sharon Schoo case. Journalists focused on the sensational “Home Alone” story, the critics said, while ignoring more heinous crimes of child abuse – cases where children were actually killed or raped or maimed. Not just left home alone […]
Bond reduction denied for Utica mother facing aggravated arson charge
Pode trial scheduled for Sept. 17 Tom Collins OTTAWA – Sandra Pode’s spotless record and strong community ties weren’t enough to persuade a judge to lower her $1 million bond. Without explanation, Circuit Judge James A. Lanuti refused Monday to reduce the accused arsonist’s bond to $100,000 or less, as requested by Pode’s lawyer. Instead, […]