Pingree Grove man found guilty of murder, concealing body in barn

A Pingree Grove man has been found guilty of murdering a man in 2024 and hiding his body in a box in a pole barn.

After about two hours of deliberation, a Kane County jury Friday found Douglas Ottesen, 61, guilty of first-degree murder and concealment of a homicidal death.

He was accused of shooting 57-year-old James Cromwell of Crystal Lake in the back of the head March 12, 2024, in a Pingree Grove pole barn where Ottesen rented space.

Ottesen then wrapped Cromwell’s body in a tarp, built a plywood box around it, and filled the box with lime and concrete powder, assistant state’s attorney Kelly Orland said. Cromwell’s hands were duct-taped together above his head.

Police found the body May 7, 2024, while investigating Cromwell’s disappearance.

During closing arguments Friday, Ottesen’s attorney, Elliot Pinsel, reiterated his client’s contention that he acted in self-defense. According to Ottesen’s account, there was a struggle and Cromwell pulled a gun on him.

Pinsel acknowledged Ottesen hid the body. But he said Ottesen, adhering to values he had as a Marine, prayed over the body and covered Cromwell’s eyes with coins, per a military tradition. Earlier in the week, the attorney said Ottesen preserved the body because he wanted to return it to Cromwell’s family.

Authorities said that Ottesen killed Cromwell because he believed Cromwell had mistreated a female relative of Ottesen’s with whom he was living. The couple was being evicted from the trailer home they rented, and Ottesen’s daughter had asked him and his wife to help the woman.

Prosecutors said they had evidence Ottesen had agreed to give Cromwell a ride to Chicago, so Cromwell could board a bus to go live with relatives in Florida. They showed text messages from one of Cromwell’s relatives to Ottesen, at first thanking him in advance for the favor, then asking about Cromwell’s whereabouts.

Prosecutors said Ottesen instead drove Cromwell to a pole barn along Route 72 near Pingree Grove and shot him. Cromwell also sustained a knife wound in his lower left back, but several knives and a boxcutter authorities took from Ottesen were never tested by a crime laboratory.

A handgun found during a search of Ottesen’s house, and a bullet casing found in a wastebasket in the pole barn, were consistent with the wound Cromwell sustained. But experts could not determine if Ottesen’s DNA and fingerprints were on them, Pinsel said.

Ottesen is due back in court April 10 for posttrial motions and possible sentencing.