Hinsdale man found guilty in Bloomingdale murder
Jeffrey Keller told his DuPage County jury he only meant to scare Nate Fox.
The two shots he fired that killed the 37-year-old Bloomingdale man were an accident, he said.
But the jurors didn't buy it.
The 12-member jury, consisting of seven men and five women, deliberated for one hour Friday before convicting Keller of first-degree murder.
Keller showed no emotion when the verdict was read. But Fox's mother, Mary Fox let out an audible sob.
“We saw justice done for Nate and we're as happy as can be,” she said outside the courtroom.
Prosecutors used their closing arguments Friday afternoon to reiterate their theory that Keller, of Hinsdale, was “maniacally unhinged” in his faulty belief that Fox was interfering with a woman Keller had a relationship with.
“The motive is jealousy,” First Assistant State's Attorney Joe Ruggiero said. “You know, Shakespeare's green-eyed monster.”
They said Keller stalked Fox for roughly 18 months before gunning him down as he exited his car in his Bloomingdale garage around 9:30 p.m. Dec. 22, 2014. Prosecutors said Fox was shot twice, once in the right wrist and once in the left shoulder, where the bullet zigzagged through his body, shattering his pulmonary artery, liver and a lung.
“For some reason, in Jeff Keller's worldview, Nate Fox had to die,” said Assistant State's Attorney Tim Diamond, chief of the criminal bureau. “And he had to die a violent death at this defendant's hands.”
Fox's girlfriend, Carlie Fraley, testified last week that she was preparing dinner inside the home on the night of the shooting. Within seconds of hearing her garage door open, Fraley said she heard two popping sounds, raced outside and found Fox seated in the car, gasping for breath as he leaned against the center console. He was pronounced dead a short time later at the hospital.
Prosecutors said Keller became angry in the spring of 2013 and accused Kathryn Cole, with whom Keller had a sexting relationship, of having an actual sexual relationship with Fox, sparking Keller's yearlong obsession. Cole testified that she previously worked with Fox for about four weeks at an insurance agency but quickly grew to dislike him after he made some inappropriate comments in the office.
A native of Joliet, Fox attended Boston College and the University of Maine and played professional basketball for 12 years in Europe. He last signed in 2011 with the French club STB Le Havre.
The case went unsolved for several weeks as Keller traveled to Florida and visited a former fraternity brother in Texas.
The man, Steven Schweigert, told authorities that Keller met with him the weekend of Jan. 8 and 9, 2015. During that time, Schweigert said, Keller confessed to killing Fox and shared numerous details. He also participated in several court-authorized monitored phone calls in which prosecutors said Keller again recounted details of the slaying.
“If it wasn't for (Schweigert), Nate Fox's family might have never seen justice in this courtroom today,” Diamond said.
Details shared by Schweigert led police to the home of Keller's sister in Indiana.
Keller stayed there briefly before the killing, and after he left, Keller's nephew's 9 mm gun, kept in the safe under the bed in the room where Keller had stayed, was missing.
Several weeks later, Keller returned to his sister's home and placed the gun back in the safe, where police found it during a search of the home. Ruggiero said two casings found in Fox's driveway were examined and matched Keller's nephew's gun.
“This was a cold, calculated, premeditated execution,” DuPage County State's Attorney Robert Berlin said. “I think the swiftness of the jury's verdict shows the significance of the importance of public safety. Law enforcement gave us a great case.”
Bloomingdale Police Chief Frank Giammarese, who attended Friday's closing arguments with Village President Franco Coladipietro, said it's important to remember officers never forget the victims in these cases.
“Our department is pleased with the verdict which puts an end to a senseless crime,” he said. “Nate Fox did not deserve this. He died because of the offender's twisted perspective.”
Keller's attorney, Paul De Luca, however, reinforced Keller's testimony from Thursday that the shooting was an accident and Keller actually just went to talk to Fox about his feelings when a physical altercation broke out.
“Jeff Keller is the only one who knows what happened in that garage,” DeLuca said. “Jeff went there to talk to Nate Fox. He didn't go there to kill Nate Fox.”
Keller's next court date is at 10 a.m. July 13.