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Wednesday, May 28, 2014
SERVING DIXON AND THE SURROUNDING AREA SINCE 1851
ROCK ISLAND | THE SHELEY TRIAL
State expects to rest today Closing arguments scheduled for Thursday BY CHRISTI WARREN cwarren@saukvalley.com 800-798-4085, ext. 5521
ROCK ISLAND – Prosecutors said Tuesday that today will be the final day of testimony in Nicholas Sheley’s third murder trial. The defense might not offer evidence. Closing arguments are scheduled for Thursday morning in Rock Island County court, with the jury to begin deliberations immediately after that. On June 30, 2008, Rock Falls police walked in on a gruesome crime scene at 1201 Avenue A, Apartment 5. They found four bodies: three in
Follow on Twitter SVM reporter Christi Warren (@SeaWarren) is tweeting live updates from the courtroom. the hallway and one in a bedroom near the front door. The hall, walls and ceiling were spattered with blood, and in a second bedroom, near the bed, they found a bloodstained blue work shirt with the letters “A.J.” on it, a pair of khaki cargo shorts, and two Newport brand cigarette butts. A forensic scientist testified last week that the DNA found on the cigarettes matched Sheley’s.
On Tuesday, Jennifer MacRitchie, another forensic scientist with the Illinois State Police, said the same thing about the blood-covered clothes: They, too, had Sheley’s DNA on them. Other blood samples from the clothes, though, showed a mixture of DNA – some of it from Ronald Randall, and some of it from Kenneth Ulve. In 2010, Sheley was convicted of murdering Randall in Galesburg. The 65-year-old’s body was found near a dumpster at a Hy-Vee 2 days after he was killed. REST CONTINUED ON A7
Paul Colletti/The Dispatch
Bradley Sherrell, an iron worker from St. Louis, identifies Nicholas Sheley during Sheley’s murder trial Tuesday in Rock Island. Sherrell testified that Sheley approached him in downtown St. Louis on June 29, 2008.
SPRING IN FULL SWING
SHAW MEDIA
Publisher a veteran with Shaw Fisher takes reins of Telegraph, Gazette STAFF REPORT news@saukvalley.com 800-798-4085, ext. 5501
Alex T. Paschal/apaschal@saukvalley.com
Jake Lohse, 3, of Dixon, puts a push from his mom, Tina Goldie, to good use as he pumps his way to a higher altitude Tuesday afternoon at Lowell Park. Similar to Tuesday, there will be time to swing today, if you work around scattered storms.
LEE COUNTY | HOMICIDE CASE
Judge to rule on evidence this afternoon Defendant’s prior convictions, taped testimony of kids considered BY MATT MENCARINI mmencarini@saukvalley.com 800-798-4085, ext. 5529
DIXON – A Lee County judge will rule today whether to allow past domestic battery convictions and video interviews with children as evidence in the trial of a Dixon man accused of causing his daughter’s death. Judge Ronald Jacobson heard arguments on several motions during a hearing Tuesday. Lee County State’s Attorney Anna Sacco-Miller and Pub-
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TODAY’S EDITION: 28 PAGES 2 SECTIONS VOL. 163 ISSUE 19
lic Defender Bob Thompson addressed Charles T. George’s domestic battery convictions and video of interviews with two children who lived with George at the time of the death. George, 36, is charged with four counts of aggravated battery of a child, and one count of aggravated domestic battery of a child, stemming from the September 2010 death of his daughter, 3-monthold Tamari George. A charge of first-degree murder against George was dropped
INDEX
BUSINESS ........... A7 COMICS ............. A11 CROSSWORD....B12
May 5 because it had been added to his indictment more than 120 days after his original demand for a speedy trial, Lee County State’s Attorney Anna Sacco-Miller said. George’s trial could begin in 2 weeks. Jacobson planned to review the 2010 taped interviews, which Sacco-Miller said included the children describing George hitting them. The judge will make his ruling on the evidence at 1 p.m. today. EVIDENCE CONTINUED ON A2
DEAR ABBY ......... A8 LIFESTYLE ........... A8 LOTTERY ............. A2
Charles T. George His previous battery convictions could be allowed as evidence
OBITUARIES ........ A4 OPINION .............. A6 SPORTS ...............B1
Sam Fisher, who has been with Shaw Media for 31 years, was named Tuesday as publisher of Sauk Valley Media. Fisher, who is currently publisher of the Bureau County Republican in Princeton, succeeds Trevis Mayfield, who resigned last month after 9 years with the company. In announcing the new publisher, company President John Rung said Fisher would assume oversight of pubSam lications of the Fisher Telegraph, Daily Gazette, Ogle County Newspapers and Prairie Advocate, in addition to the Bureau County Republican, Putnam County Record and Tonica News. He will be based in Sterling. Fisher, a graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism, joined Shaw Media in 1983 and held various management positions at the Northwest Herald in Crystal Lake and at the Kane County Chronicle. He also had been a corporate sales trainer before he was promoted to publisher at Princeton in 1993. He is an executive committee member of the Illinois Press Association and has been active in Princeton with Rotary Club, Chamber of Commerce, Princeton Main Street, Bureau County United Way, Princeton Youth Soccer, and Princeton Public Library, among other organizations. Fisher lives in Princeton with his daughter, Meg, and he has two grown children, Brooke and Ben.
Today’s weather High 79. Low 55. More on A3.
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