Trial begins in 2014 shooting death of Bloomingdale man
It was a Hinsdale businessman's "bizarre fanatical addiction" to a local "soccer mom" that prosecutors say led to the Dec. 22, 2014, shooting death of a Bloomingdale man.
Jeffrey Keller, 53, is charged with first-degree murder in the slaying of Nate Fox, a 37-year-old car salesman and former basketball player.
First Assistant State's Attorney Joe Ruggiero used Wednesday's opening arguments to paint a picture of Keller as a jealous and obsessive paramour who mistakenly thought Fox was a rival for the woman's affection and had to be eliminated.
Keller is accused of gunning Fox down as he exited his car in his Bloomingdale garage around 9:30 p.m. Prosecutors said Fox was shot twice, once in the right wrist and once in the left shoulder, where the bullet zigzagged through his body, shattering his pulmonary artery, liver and a lung.
Fox's girlfriend, Carlie Fraley, fought back tears as she testified Wednesday that she was preparing dinner inside the home around 9:30 p.m. Within seconds of hearing her garage door open, Fraley said she heard two popping sounds, raced outside and found Fox seated in the car, gasping for breath as he leaned against the center console. He was pronounced dead a short time later at the hospital.
Ruggiero said Keller became angry and accused the woman, with whom Keller had a sexting relationship, of having an actual sexual relationship with Fox, sparking Keller's yearlong obsession with Fox. Ruggiero said the woman, who is expected to testify, previously worked with Fox for about four weeks at an insurance agency "and didn't even like (Fox)" because of his boorish behavior and "inappropriate locker room talk" at work.
"This guy had a screw loose when it came to Nate Fox," Ruggiero said, pointing at Keller.
Despite the woman's denials, prosecutors said, Keller was obsessed with the thought of her being with another man and needed Fox "out of the way." They said Keller went as far as keeping a GPS device on the woman's car and insisting that she chat with him on social media applications that allowed him to monitor her location.
A native of Joliet, Fox attended Boston College and the University of Maine and played professional basketball for 12 years in Europe. He last signed in 2011 with the French club STB Le Havre.
The case went unsolved for several weeks as Keller traveled to Florida and visited a former fraternity brother in Texas.
The man, Steven Schweigert, told authorities that Keller visited him on the weekend of Jan. 8 and 9, 2015. During that time, Schweigert said, Keller confessed to killing Fox and shared numerous details. He also participated in several court-authorized monitored phone calls in which prosecutors said Keller again recounted details of the slaying.
Details shared by Schweigert led police to the home of Keller's sister in Indiana.
Ruggiero said Keller stayed there briefly before the killing, and after he left, Keller's nephew's 9 mm gun, kept in the safe under the bed in the room where Keller had stayed, was missing.
Ruggiero said that several weeks later Keller returned to his sister's home and placed the gun back in the safe, where police found it during a search of the home. Ruggiero said two casings found in Fox's driveway were examined and matched Keller's nephew's gun.
Keller's attorney, Paul De Luca, however, said the shooting was all an accident as Keller actually went to "do what he does best" and talk to Fox about his feelings.
"It was self-defense and it was an accident as to how it happened," De Luca said in his opening argument. "(Keller) is going to tell you what happened."
The trial, presided over by Judge George Bakalis, resumes Thursday with more testimony. It is expected to last into next week.