Appellate court upholds 90-year sentence for Bartlett double murder by teen
The Illinois 2nd District Appellate Court has again upheld the two concurrent 90-year sentences given to a teen convicted of a 1993 double-murder in Bartlett.
The court ruled DuPage County Judge George Bakalis was allowed to impose what amounts to a de facto life sentence for Sean Helgesen when he resentenced him in 2016.
Helgesen was convicted in 1995 of murdering Peter and Diana Robles in their home. On April 17, 1993, Helgesen, then 17, and Eric Robles, the victims' son, entered the home. They stabbed and slashed Peter Robles 22 times in a downstairs bathroom, then attacked Diana Robles on the main floor of the home. Diana Robles, who used crutches, was stabbed and slashed 29 times.
Eric Robles had paid Helgesen to do the killing.
Helgesen was sentenced in 1995 to natural life in prison, as was mandated by law at that time for defendants who had killed two or more people. A Supreme Court decision in 2012 prohibited mandatory sentences of natural life without possibility of parole for juveniles. That decision applies retroactively.
When resentencing Helgesen, Bakalis found Helgesen, now 44, to be eligible for extended prison terms because Diana Robles was physically handicapped. She was disabled due to having had polio.
At the time, Bakalis said "the overriding consideration in my mind was the offense itself, seriousness of the offense, the nature of the offense. I know it's a severe sentence. It's a very severe crime." Helgesen appealed the sentence, and the appellate court upheld it in 2018. He appealed the appellate decision, and the Illinois Supreme Court ordered the appellate court to vacate its decision and reconsider the case.
Helgesen will be eligible for parole in 2038.