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'Day of reckoning' as Champaign man pleads guilty in '85 murder case
'Day of reckoning' as Champaign man pleads guilty in '85 murder case
Thu, 01/18/2018 - 3:43pm | Mary Schenk
WHEATON — A Champaign man whose DNA linked him to a decades-old murder case in northern Illinois has pleaded guilty to that crime for a sentence of 80 years in prison. ... Michael R. Jones, 64, who last lived in the 2500 block of Southmoor Drive, admitted that he murdered Kristina Wesselman, 15, of Glen Ellyn, in July 1985.
Jones pleaded guilty Thursday before DuPage County Judge George Bakalis to a count of murder that alleged he fatally stabbed the teen during the course of a forcible felony, namely criminal sexual assault.
....
Despite an extensive investigation, authorities were unable to make an arrest. ... That is, until modern science pointed a finger at Jones in 2015. ... On May 18 of that year, he got into a dispute with his former wife at their home in southwest Champaign that led to criminal charges of felony domestic battery against him. ... He pleaded guilty to that offense in July 2015 in Champaign County and as part of his probationary sentence, was required to submit a DNA sample to the state of Illinois.
On Sept. 10, 2015, the DuPage County Crime Laboratory informed detectives from the DuPage sheriff’s office that there was a match in the DNA database to evidence obtained from the sex assault kit performed during Miss Wesselman’s autopsy. ... Jones was arrested Sept. 18, 2015, and has been in jail since.
Thu, 01/18/2018 - 3:43pm | Mary Schenk
WHEATON — A Champaign man whose DNA linked him to a decades-old murder case in northern Illinois has pleaded guilty to that crime for a sentence of 80 years in prison. ... Michael R. Jones, 64, who last lived in the 2500 block of Southmoor Drive, admitted that he murdered Kristina Wesselman, 15, of Glen Ellyn, in July 1985.
Jones pleaded guilty Thursday before DuPage County Judge George Bakalis to a count of murder that alleged he fatally stabbed the teen during the course of a forcible felony, namely criminal sexual assault.
....
Despite an extensive investigation, authorities were unable to make an arrest. ... That is, until modern science pointed a finger at Jones in 2015. ... On May 18 of that year, he got into a dispute with his former wife at their home in southwest Champaign that led to criminal charges of felony domestic battery against him. ... He pleaded guilty to that offense in July 2015 in Champaign County and as part of his probationary sentence, was required to submit a DNA sample to the state of Illinois.
On Sept. 10, 2015, the DuPage County Crime Laboratory informed detectives from the DuPage sheriff’s office that there was a match in the DNA database to evidence obtained from the sex assault kit performed during Miss Wesselman’s autopsy. ... Jones was arrested Sept. 18, 2015, and has been in jail since.