Man gets 71 years in prison for 2017 McHenry-area home invasion, murder
A McCollum Lake man has been sentenced to 71 years in prison for the May 2017 home invasion and fatal shooting of a 52-year-old McHenry-area man and terrorizing his wife.
Adam C. Morris, 46, who is the first of four people to be sentenced for Donald Jouravleff's murder, will serve about 60 years in prison under sentencing laws.
McHenry County Judge Sharon Prather on Friday sentenced Morris to prison after his March 2019 conviction for first-degree murder, armed robbery, burglary and possession of a firearm by a felon, according to court records.
According to authorities and trial testimony, Morris and three other men went to the Jouravleff's house in unincorporated McHenry, in the early morning hours of May 27, 2017.
Prosecutors said Morris, who was an employee of a moving company owned by Jouravleff's wife, Heather Mills, hatched a plan to rob the couple after meeting with Mills the previous day and seeing $3,000 in the couple's basement.
Jouravleff, a 52-year-old Air Force veteran, was shot twice after he answered the door, according to prosecutors. Mills was in an upstairs bedroom and tried to call 911, but an armed masked man - who prosecutors said was Byron Howard - ran to the room and disconnected her phone. Howard held a gun to Mills' head, brought her downstairs and Morris took her to the basement and demanded the money, prosecutors said. Howard, 37, of Wonder Lake, also was convicted of first-degree murder and other offenses this year and faces up to 120 years in prison when he's sentenced May 24.
Two other men charged with murder in the case - Charles A. Campo, 33, of McHenry, and Jared J. Fox, 27, of Wonder Lake - testified against Morris.
In exchange for their cooperation. Campo and Fox have pleaded guilty to aggravated battery with a firearm and are expected to receive a sentence of less than 10 years in prison when they are sentenced June 6.