Man Pleads Guilty To 1985 Rape, Murder Of Glen Ellyn Teen
CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- 32 years after a Glen Ellyn girl was abducted, raped and murdered, a Champaign man has entered a guilty plea.
DuPage County State's Attorney Robert B. Berlin announced Thursday Michael Jones, 64, has entered a plea of guilty to the 1985 murder of 15-year-old Kristina Wesselman. WBBM Bob Robert's reports.
On July 21, 1985, Kristina left her home in unincorporated Glen Ellyn to go to the Jewel store near her home. She never returned. The following day, her partially nude body was discovered in a field between her home and the store. She had been sexually assaulted and stabbed multiple times. An extensive investigation into her murder yielded no results and the case eventually went cold. The case has remained active since then.
A domestic violence conviction forced 64-year-old Michael Jones to provide a DNA sample. It matched samples taken 32 years ago from victim Kristi Wesselman, well before the technology was perfected.
Kristi's parents were in court to hear the plea. Although relieved, State's Attorney Robert Berlin said they can never bring her back.
"Kristy Wesselman had her whole life ahead of her," Berlin said. "She was denied the opportunity to live out her dreams to get married, to have children, because of this defender's actions.
"She was a beautiful young girl, full of life and loved by all. More than three decades have passed since Michael Jones sexually assaulted and brutally murdered Kristy, forever changing the lives of her surviving family and friends. I'm sure that in that time, not a day has passed that Kristy's family hasn't thought about today, the day of reckoning for the man who sexually assaulted and murdered Kristy. Her family and friends have waited a long time for justice and today, justice was delivered."
Jones is expected to be sentenced to 80 years in prison at a hearing Tuesday.