Trial date set in 1985 rape, murder of Kristy Wesselman near Glen Ellyn
For 30 years, DuPage County prosecutors believe, Michael Jones lived a life in relative obscurity, certain he had gotten away with murder.
Early next year, they hope to bring him to justice in the 1985 rape and slaying of 15-year-old Kristy Wesselman near Glen Ellyn.
DuPage Judge George Bakalis on Thursday set a Jan. 23 trial date for Jones. The 63-year-old Champaign man is charged with multiple counts each of first-degree murder and aggravated criminal sexual assault.
Jones was linked to the slaying in September 2015 through a DNA sample he was required to give after pleading guilty that summer to aggravated domestic battery in Champaign County. His DNA matched samples from the 1985 murder scene that had been filed in a national database in 2000.
Prosecutors say Jones stabbed Kristy eight times and sexually assaulted her on July 21, 1985, in broad daylight, on a path near Butterfield Road and Route 53 that led to her home in the nearby Valley View subdivision near Glen Ellyn.
Kristy's body was found in a pile of leaves near a half-eaten candy bar and a soda bottle by a sheriff's deputy about 11 a.m. the following day.
If convicted, Jones faces 80 years to natural life in prison for the murder and six to 30 years in prison for the sexual assault.