7am News, Sports and Obits
Latest WGIL news
Click to play or
Right click and "Save Target As" to download
Click for Galesburg, Illinois Forecast
Home - Cancellations - Community Events - Contact Us - Mornings - News - Obituaries - Pictures - Programs - Special Events Audio - Sports - Weather
Evidence Destroyed In Sheley Case
Some evidence that was to be preserved in the case of accused spree killer Nicholas Sheley wasn't.

Knox County Circuit Court Judge James Stewart said Thursday yes, Galesburg Police Department Evidence Sergeant Dan Hostens unintentionally destroyed beer bottles that were being held in the Nicholas Sheley case.

But, it was also learned that DNA and fingerprint evidence extracted from them is still available and has been preserved.

The beer bottles were in the back of a pickup truck from Rock Island-based Illinois Oil Company found at Southard's Car Wash on East Main Street. Sheley is accused of stealing that truck from Rock Island, then stealing 65-year old Ronald Randal's pickup truck after killing him.

Hostens testified that the evidence card for the bottles had been mislabeled and wasn't connected to the Sheley case, and the bottles were destroyed last November.

Hostens says the evidence was destroyed because Illinois Oil didn't want stolen vehicle charges filed.

Judge James Stewart suggests that the paper system the Galesburg Police Department apparently uses for keeping track of evidence is outdated, and that somewhere there was a breakdown in communication.

Earlier, a defense motion for a mistrial and change of venue, citing pre-trial publicity, was denied yet again. Stewart claims the filing may have been too late.
09 08 11 by Newsroom
News management powered by Xpression News

Click here for the WGIL News Archive

Click here for national news

The following provision applies to all visitors (which shall include persons and representatives of legal entities, whether such representatives are persons or digital engines of a kind that crawls, indexes, scrapes, copies, stores or transmits digital content). By accessing this Web site or digital service, you specifically acknowledge and agree that: (i) Associated Press text, photo, graphic, audio and/or video material shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium; (ii) No Associated Press materials nor any portion thereof may be stored in a computer except for personal and non-commercial use; (iii) The Associated Press will not be held liable for any delays, inaccuracies, errors or omissions therefrom or in the transmission or delivery of all or any part thereof or for any damages arising from any of the foregoing; (iv) The Associated Press is an intended third party beneficiary of these terms and conditions and it may exercise all rights and remedies available to it; and (v) The Associated Press reserves the right to audit possible unauthorized commercial use of AP materials or any portion thereof at any time.