Guilty plea for man who helped kill Arlington Heights dad
A Chicago man pleaded guilty Friday to taking part in the grisly 2011 murder of George Nellessen, 55, in his Arlington Heights home.
Armon Braden, 24, is expected to be sentenced on Jan. 30 to 22 years in prison as part of a negotiated plea, prosecutors said.
He is one of four defendants charged with first-degree murder in the slaying of Nellessen, a widowed father of two whose murder, prosecutors say, resulted from his son Matthew Nellessen's anger and greed. Matthew Nellessen, 23, set in motion his father's death when he enlisted jailhouse pal Marlon Green, 24, to help him rob the elder Nellessen, prosecutors say. They say Matthew Nellessen believed his father owed him money from his mother, who died in 2004.
Authorities say Green sought help from his friend Braden, who prosecutors say supplied the pellet gun used to intimidate the victim. Braden's younger brother Azari drove the men to the Nellessens' home on Wilshire Lane the afternoon of April 12, 2011, according to testimony in Matthew Nellessen's trial. There, after George Nellessen returned from work at Rexam Mold Manufacturing, Braden and Matthew Nellessen duct taped him to a chair and forced him to sign a check and divulge his bank account information, according to the testimony. Matthew Nellessen also took money from his father's wallet, prosecutors said.
According to testimony, Matthew stuffed a rag into his father's mouth and taped his eyes and nose shut after George threatened to call police. Matthew then retrieved a baseball bat and struck his father multiple times in the head. Realizing that his father was still alive, he stabbed him in the neck with a kitchen knife.
Green pleaded guilty to armed robbery and testified against Matthew Nellessen at his trial. As part of his plea agreement, Green is expected to be sentenced to 18 years in prison, possibly next month.
Jurors found Matthew Nellessen responsible for his father's death, which they found was indicative of wanton cruelty. Cook County Judge Martin Agran sentenced Nellessen to life in prison last June, saying, "I do not see an opportunity for redemption or rehabilitation."
Charges are still pending against 23-year-old Azari Braden, Armon's younger brother, who authorities say drove his brother and Green to the Nellessen house but never entered it. Azari Braden next appears in court on Dec. 2.