Murder registry legislation approved by House

SPRINGFIELD — The Illinois House Tuesday approved legislation to create a murderer’s registry that would keep track of all people convicted of first-degree murder for 10 years after they leave prison.

The proposed law was sparked by the release of the man who murdered Batavia’s Andrea Will, who was killed while a student at Eastern Illinois University in 1998.

Justin Boulay, who killed Will, left prison last year after serving 12 years of a 24-year sentence.

Will’s mother, Patricia Rosenberg, was in the Illinois House gallery when lawmakers voted 97-1 to approve.

“It was just an unbelievable moment for me,” Rosenberg said. She was in Springfield to lobby lawmakers on the proposal, not expecting it to come to a vote so soon.

“Something brought me here today,” she said.

State Rep. Dennis Reboletti, an Elmhurst Republican and the plan’s sponsor, said up to 500 Illinoisans might have to register under this plan. He described Will’s murder on the House floor, saying she went to Boulay’s apartment thinking he had a birthday present for her.

“What he did was strangle her to death with a telephone cord,” Reboletti said.

The legislation now moves to the Senate, where it will likely be sponsored by Sen. John Millner, a Carol Stream Republican.