Judge: Joshua Sheley’s arrest legal
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MORRISON – Police had sufficient probable cause to arrest Joshua Sheley in June 2008 on suspicion that he helped his brother, Nicholas Sheley, hide the body of a 93-year-old Sterling man, a Whiteside County judge ruled Thursday.
Circuit Judge John Hauptman denied a motion to quash the arrest and ruled that charges of concealing a homicidal death and obstructing justice will stand against the 31-year-old Rock Falls man. He also denied a motion to dismiss the grand jury indictment.
Joshua Sheley’s bench trial is set to begin Nov. 3.
His attorney, Janet Buttron of Chana, argued Thursday that officers stopped her client on June 26, 2008, in the parking lot of Broadway Express Liquors in Sterling because they mistook him for his brother, who was wanted in connection with the bludgeoning death of Russell Reed.
Reed’s 2003 Buick Century was found several hours earlier at the home of Joshua Sheley’s girlfriend, Jenna Henson, 22, of Sterling. Reed’s body was in the trunk.
Nicholas Sheley, 30, of Sterling, is charged with killing Reed and in 7 other people in Illinois and Missouri.
Buttron also said police gave an Illinois Department of Corrections parole officer information about the alleged crimes, although no actual charges had been filed, just so they could keep him in jail and pump him for information.
Joshua Sheley was taken into custody and held for allegedly violating his parole; his felony charges were not filed until June 30, Buttron noted.
Whiteside County State’s Attorney Gary Spencer said officers had an “abundant wealth” of probable cause to justify the arrest, based on statements from Henson and other witnesses.
Among those testifying at the daylong hearing were Whiteside County Sheriff’s Detective Robert Luyando and Detective Sgt. Jerome Castilow of the Illinois State Police.
Based on statements taken by officers, Joshua Sheley was a “person of interest” in Reed’s homicide. When he was spotted at the liquor store, officers brought him in to talk to him about the murder, Luyando testified.
Castilow testified that officers spoke with Henson the day Reed’s car was discovered in her driveway.
Henson said Joshua Sheley called her and asked her if he could park Reed’s car in her driveway. One of her neighbors said he saw two men pull up to Henson’s driveway around 6 p.m. that day, and saw Henson move her car and one of the men pull their car all the way up, Castilow testified.
The neighbor’s girlfriend thought one of the men was Joshua Sheley. The neighbor and his girlfriend were able to pick Nicholas Sheley out of a photo lineup, but not his brother, Castilow testified.
Henson also told investigators that later that day, Nicholas Sheley cashed a stolen check, then she drove the brothers and their cousin, Eric Smith, to Chicago, where they a friend of the Sheleys bought them a quarter-ounce of cocaine, Castilow testified.
Based on that information, officers arrested Joshua Sheley at the liquor store, called a parole officer and obtained a warrant to keep him in custody, Castilow said.
Charges of obstructing justice were dropped against Henson “in the interest of justice.” No further explanation was given.
Smith is charged with being a habitual armed criminal and with two counts of possession of a weapon by a felon. Investigators say Smith hid a gun and ammunition allegedly stolen by Nicholas Sheley from a house in Rock Falls.
