Police: Man likely killed dad over brother's estate
The fugitive who was fatally shot by police in Lake County likely killed his father and a woman in Kentucky after a dispute about money and his late brother's estate, authorities said Monday.
That revelation from police in McCracken County, Kentucky, came as the Lake County Major Crimes Task Force and the Lake County coroner's office continued investigating the confrontation that left Gerald R. Boyes dead outside an Antioch Township bar early Saturday.
The autopsy conducted Monday revealed Boyes, 53, of Florida, died of multiple gunshot wounds, Chief Deputy Coroner Orlando Portillo said. Authorities are investigating whether any wounds were self-inflicted, Portillo said. The coroner's office can't finish its report until it gets more information about the shooting from the task force, he added.
Boyes was raised in the Chicago area and formerly lived near Antioch. He had an extensive criminal history, including arrests in Illinois and Florida, and spent more than 20 years imprisoned in Florida, records show.
He was wanted on a warrant in Florida for a probation violation, but he also was a suspect in the April 11 Kentucky murders.
Boyes was fatally shot about 12:15 a.m. Saturday in a stolen car outside Toppers Sports Bar, 26211 Route 173, after he pointed a gun at Lake County and McHenry County sheriff's deputies who were trying to arrest him on the Florida warrant, authorities have said. Police had traced Boyes to the Chicago area after the Kentucky slayings.
Evidence is mounting Boyes killed his 73-year-old father, Gerald B. Boyes, and the older man's longtime girlfriend, 67-year-old Billie Potter, McCracken County Sheriff Jon Hayden said.
Boyes and Potter lived in Antioch Township until they moved to Kentucky last year, police said.
Police already knew Boyes pawned his dead father's wallet at a pawnshop in suburban Villa Park on Thursday, and that he had prescription medication belonging to his late father when he was shot by police.
On Monday, Hayden said police found a pair of blood- and mud-stained pants in the car in which Boyes died.
"We believe these were the pants being worn by him at the time of the murder," Hayden said. "His father was killed in his backyard, and it was raining at the time of the killing, explaining the mud."
Forensic testing will be used to determine if the blood on the pants belongs to either victim, Hayden said.
Additionally, telephone records show the younger Boyes was in McCracken County at the time of the murders, Hayden said.
"As the evidence continues to increase, we believe that he committed the murders," Hayden said.
Forensic tests of blood samples, fingerprints, shoe impressions and other evidence are pending, he said.
Hayden believe Boyes was driven to murder because he was upset about not receiving anything from his late brother's estate.
Gregory Boyes, 50, of Antioch, died in August 2015 when he was hit by a motorist who authorities say was drunk and fled the scene. The driver later was arrested and faces charges.
Gerald Boyes' strained relationship with his father may also have been a factor in the murders, Hayden said.
The elder Boyes and Potter were found dead at their home April 12 by a neighbor, authorities said.
Boyes and Potter were beaten to death with a heavy tool police found at the house, Hayden said.
The Lake County sheriff's office has no reports of domestic violence between Boyes and his father when the elder man lived here, sheriff's Det. Chris Covelli said. Boyes was arrested in 2001 after he opened credit card accounts in his father's name and rang up more than $6,000 in charges, Covelli said. Identity theft charges eventually were dropped, court records show.
Boyes' criminal record includes convictions for burglary, robbery, grand theft and other crimes.
Authorities are trying to determine why he was in the Chicago area last week.
He was confronted outside Toppers by two Lake County sheriff's deputies and two McHenry County sheriff's deputies. They shot him while he was in a 2015 Ford Flex reported stolen by a Florida rental car shop.
The deputies fired handguns at Boyes, said Tom Nugent, the task force's assistant commander. It wasn't immediately known how many times Boyes was hit.
The deputies' vehicles were not equipped with video cameras, Nugent said. No 911 calls were made. The task force is investigating the shooting because Lake County and McHenry County police were involved.
As of Monday, the task force had not interviewed the deputies involved in the shooting, Nugent said. The task force's investigation could take several weeks, he said.
Both of the Lake County deputies involved in the shooting are with the sheriff's warrants division, Undersheriff Raymond J. Rose said. One has been with the department 10 years and the other 11 years.
The McHenry County sheriff's office declined to release any information about the two other deputies.
The case eventually will be reviewed by the Lake County state's attorney's office. State's Attorney Michael Nerheim pledged to make his findings public.
• Daily Herald Staff Writer Lee Filas contributed to this report.