Indictments announced in Arlington Heights slaying

Four men accused of killing 55-year-old widower George Nellessen — one of them his 19-year-old son — have been indicted on 28 counts apiece, including first-degree murder, home invasion, aggravated kidnapping and armed robbery.

Prosecutors announced the indictments Monday during a court hearing for the four men charged in the April 12 murder in Nellessen’s Arlington Heights home.

Mathew Nellessen, 19, who lived with his father; Marlon L. Green, 20, of Chicago; and brothers Armon Braden, 20, and Azari Braden, 19, both of Chicago, are accused in the case, which authorities say began with Mathew Nellessen’s plans to rob his father.

The four are scheduled for arraignment June 6 before Judge Martin S. Agran, a 17-year veteran of the bench and former Arlington Heights trustee who is new to the Rolling Meadows courthouse.

Prosecutors say Mathew Nellessen solicited help from Green, whom he met at Cook County Jail. Prosecutors say Green, in turn, called upon the Braden brothers. They say Armon Braden supplied a pellet gun and Azari Braden was the driver.

Prosecutors say Mathew Nellessen and Armon Braden duct taped George Nellessen to a chair and that Mathew Nellessen forced George Nellessen to sign a $100,000 check made out to Mathew. After George Nellessen threatened to call police, Mathew Nellessen stuffed a rag into his mouth, duct taped his eyes and nose, struck him with a baseball bat and then stabbed him in the neck, killing him, prosecutors said.

A friend discovered the body April 14 still taped to the chair and saw Mathew flee in his dad’s car, prosecutors say. Police spotted Mathew Nellessen driving in Schaumburg a short time later and stopped him after a chase through Hoffman Estates, Barrington Hills and East Dundee.

Nellessen also faces charges he violated probation for a 2009 residential burglary conviction and served 30 days in jail ending March 25. He next appears in court for a hearing on the violation on June 3.