Hinsdale Man Charged With Killing Former Pro Basketball Player
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A 51-year-old man was ordered held without bail on Friday, after he was charged with murder in the slaying of a former professional basketball player in west suburban Bloomingdale.
Jeffrey Keller, a businessman from Hinsdale, allegedly believed Nate Fox, 37, was having an affair with a woman in whom Keller had a romantic interest. The woman once worked with Fox, but denied having any relationship with him.
"The defendant was obsessed over a relationship that he believed Nate Fox was having with a woman, Katie, who the defendant knew, and who had a longtime emotional relationship with," DuPage County State's Attorney Robert Berlin said. "The defendant murdered Nate Fox for a motive as old as time: jealousy."
Fox, a former college basketball player at Boston College and the University of Maine, also played professional basketball in Europe for 12 years.
Keller, the CEO of 8to18 Inc., an Internet-based sports information and marketing company, allegedly stalked Fox, and was cold and calculating in carrying out his plan to kill him.
"The defendant followed the victim, Nate Fox, to become familiar with his movements, and his schedule," Berlin said.
Keller allegedly shot Fox outside the victim's home in Bloomingdale on Dec. 22.
"He laid in wait for Nate Fox to arrive, and when Nate Fox arrived, as he was getting out of his car, the defendant shot him, ambushed him, firing two shots with a 9mm gun," Berlin said.
Fox's girlfriend was preparing dinner inside the home they shared, and heard the fatal gunshots. She found Fox lying near his car.
Keller allegedly confessed to a friend, and then turned himself in to police.
He was due back in court later this month.