Illinois man pleads guilty in 1985 death of 15-year-old

Prosecutors say an Illinois man has pleaded guilty in the 1985 death of a teenage girl who left her suburban Chicago home to go to the store and never returned.

DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin says 64-year-old Michael Jones of Champaign entered the plea Thursday in the death of 15-year-old Kristina Wesselman.

She had been sexually assaulted and stabbed multiple times while walking back from a local store where she had bought candy for her mother. 

Kristina Wesselman, 15, was raped and murdered in July 1985

Michael Jones (left)  64, from Champaign, Illinois, has pleaded guilty to the 1985 rape and murder of schoolgirl and athlete Kristina Wesselman, (right) who died aged 15

Wesselman had left the family home to go buy candy from a nearby store

Wesselman had left the family home to go buy candy from a nearby store

She was walking home on a well trodden path when she was snatched in broad daylight

She was walking home on a well trodden path when she was snatched in broad daylight

Her body was found more than 30 years ago in a field between her Glen Ellyn home and the store. 

Jones was charged in 2015 after being linked to the case through a DNA sample provided after he pleaded guilty to aggravated domestic battery in Champaign County. 

He has been held in the DuPage County jail without bond since September 2015.

The teenager was found to have been sexually assaulted and stabbed multiple times while walking back from a local store where she had bought candy for her mother

The teenager was found to have been sexually assaulted and stabbed multiple times while walking back from a local store where she had bought candy for her mother

Up until that point DuPage County investigators had run down hundreds of leads across the country, canvassed the neighborhood and questioned suspects but had never been able to track down the murderer.

Officers had also submitted a DNA specimen from semen found on the victim’s body to the national database in 2000, but had failed to find any matches.

That was until Jones was forced to submit a DNA specimen after being sentenced to one year’s probation for a domestic violence conviction.

When initially questioned, the 64-year-old denied all knowledge of the crime, any connection with the victim, and ever having visited Glen Ellyn, saying: ‘As God as my witness, I’ve never seen her before.’ 

According to reports at the time, Wesselman had been at home with mother Sandy before deciding to go to a nearby store.

Sandy told her daughter to ‘be careful princess’, adding ‘I love you’ before watching her leave.

Officers said Wesselman was dragged off the path, raped, then repeatedly stabbed before her body was dumped in four foot high weeds and found the next morning

Officers said Wesselman was dragged off the path, raped, then repeatedly stabbed before her body was dumped in four foot high weeds and found the next morning

Wesselman had gone to this store near her home, pictured in 1985, to buy some candy 

Wesselman had gone to this store near her home, pictured in 1985, to buy some candy 

Michael Jones, pictured in the 1980s,  was arrested in 2015 after his DNA matched evidence

Michael Jones, pictured in the 1980s,  was arrested in 2015 after his DNA matched evidence

Jones, pictured here in the 80s, already had a lengthy criminal record, which included domestic violence and a six year jail term for raping and kidnapping a 27-year-old woman

Jones, pictured here in the 80s, already had a lengthy criminal record, which included domestic violence and a six year jail term for raping and kidnapping a 27-year-old woman

Witnesses say they saw Wesselman in the shop where she bought candy for herself and her mother, before starting the walk home.

The path took her through tall weeds, but was well trodden and often used by children to get into town or to the local McDonald’s.

Wesselman was reported missing later that evening when she failed to return home, and in the early hours of the morning her body was found in four foot weeds by the side of the path.

Officers said she had likely been grabbed off the path in broad daylight before being raped, then repeatedly stabbed.

Various suspects, including an unemployed laborer who lived near the field, were taken in for questioning, but nothing ever came of it.

Police said they received an anonymous tip-off in September 2015 that led them to Jones. After searching his house, he was arrested him on Friday and charged over Wesselman's death

Police said they received an anonymous tip-off in September 2015 that led them to Jones. After searching his house, he was arrested him on Friday and charged over Wesselman’s death

The police search focused on a pearl ring that Wesselman had been wearing when she left the house that was missing when her body was found.

Cops believed the killer had likely taken it as a twisted memento, and may have even given it to another woman afterwards.

In 2011, on the anniversary of the killing, cops reissued pictures of the ring, asking anyone who might have seen it to come forward.

Sheriff John Zaruba, from the DuPage Police Department, said at the time: ‘Since the date of the tragic murder, the case has remained open and active. 

‘Over the last 30 years the Sheriff’s Cold Case Unit has worked hundreds of leads that have sent them across the nation and thousands of man hours have been spent to catch the killer in this horrendous crime.’

The breakthrough came on September 10, 2015 when detectives were notified that there had been a DNA match with evidence found at the scene of the crime. 

Jones already had a lengthy criminal record, which included domestic violence and a six year jail term for raping and kidnapping a 27-year-old woman.

He had been on parole for that crime when he killed Wesselman.



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