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| State's Attorney Reacts to Sheley Verdict |
The Knox County State's Attorney says he's grateful that after three years of work, a guilty veridct has finally been obtained in the case of accused spree killer Nicholas Sheley.
John Pepmeyer gives most of the credit, though, to the team of attorneys the Illinois Attorney General's Office employed to help him try the case of the Sterling man just convicted of killing 65-year old Ronald Randall as part of a two-state spree.
Pepmeyer told reporters Monday as much as he'd like to celebrate, the trial wasn't really about him.
"Our first and foremost concern, as it has been from the beginning, is justice for the Randall Family" Pepmeyer said. "I want to say 'we got him. This one's for you.'"
Pepmeyer says, though, the verdict gives him pause.
"We should never be pleased or over-celebratory when it comes to the justice process," Pepmeyer said. "We feel gratified by it."
Defense attorney Jeremy Karlin didn't speak to reporters after the verdict was read, but in his closing arguments, he claimed that the process by which DNA was found in Randall's stolen pickup truck matching both him and Sheley, along with fingerprints was "junk science."
Sentencing in the Knox County case is scheduled for November 18th.
Sheley will be in Whiteside County to answer murder charges there next Monday. He's accused of killing five people there, and another two people -- an Arkansas couple -- in Missouri.
(Attorneys discuss the verdict in the Nicholas Sheley murder Monday. Left to Right: Steve Plazibat, Knox County State's Attorney John Pepmyer, Mike Atterberry, Bill Elward. All except Pepmeyer are employed by the Illiois General. WGIL News Photo by Will Stevenson.) |
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| 09 20 11 by Newsroom |
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