Sex offender, Vernon Beam, dies of cancer in prison

4-26-17 Illinois:

INA — A Galesburg man who couldn’t meet the conditions of his release died in prison last week.

Vernon Beam, who had been suffering from cancer in recent months, died at 64 within the Illinois Department of Corrections late last week. His case was featured in a Feb. 7, 2016, Register-Mail story.

He had been ordered to be released from IDOC custody in May 2013 after then-Circuit Judge James Stewart found that he was no longer a sexually dangerous person. But Beam, a sex offender, couldn’t meet the conditions of his release and was stuck in prison until his death.

Beam was arrested in late October 1991 and charged with five offenses after he allegedly lured three boys, all under the age of 13, to a Galesburg motel, rented a VCR and showed them X-rated movies.

His charges were child abduction, providing harmful material to children and three counts of aggravated kidnapping. Beam remained in custody from the time of his arrest to his death.

After Beam rejected a 12-year plea deal, the Knox County State’s Attorney’s office changed direction. Rather than trying to convict Beam of those charges, then-State’s Attorney Ray Kimball pushed to classify Beam to be a sexually dangerous person, according to Register-Mail archives.

Two juries found Beam to be a sexually dangerous person and he was civilly confined to the state prison. His felony case never proceeded after he was indicted by a Knox County grand jury on all five counts.

A person suffering from a mental disorder for at least a year and who has shown a criminal propensity to commit sex offenses against children is eligible to be designated a sexually dangerous person.

Beam had two prior sex-related offenses involving minors in Henry County in the 1980s. Register-Mail archives said Beam was diagnosed as a pedophile with a mild learning disability and antisocial personality disorder before his confinement.

Court documents listed other disorders, such as organic brain syndrome due to serious head injuries and alcohol dependency.

Beam, in a letter seeking answers about his conditional release in 2013, wrote to Judge Stewart, “I really don’t want to be stuck here forever.”

Knox County Chief Public Defender David Hansen declined comment on Beam’s death.

“I really don’t want to spend the rest of my life here,” Beam wrote. ..Source.. by Robert Connelly

Shooting Victim A Registered Sex Offender

12-26-2014 Illinois:

Police say a man shot to death in Peoria's North Valley had a criminal background, although they're still trying to figure out why he was gunned down.

The body of Rogelio Delarosa, 34, was found by officers around 10:20 p.m. Tuesday in an alley in the 1000 block of Northeast Peoria.

Officials say Delarosa was last living at the Heritage Inn in Peoria.

"We're trying to locate his movements and contacts over the past 24 hours," says Peoria Police Capt. Mike Scally, "to find out where he was and where he's been."

Beach Park man sentenced to 35 years for murder, torture

See Also: Cops: Guilty conscience led to confession in mistaken ID murder

5-15-2014 Illinois:

A Beach Park man will spend 35 years in prison after assisting in the torture and murder of a 27-year-old Waukegan man wrongly accused of sexual assault.

Eric Castillo, 26, of the 38000 block of North Sheridan Road, was found guilty by a jury in February of holding down David Campbell while other people suffocated him with plastic bags and burned him with a blow torch on July 5, 2011.

Castillo must serve 100 percent of the sentence and is not eligible for parole.

Authorities said the five -- including Castillo -- were looking for revenge when they lured Campbell to the Waukegan auto-body shop on Dugdale Street through a fake drug deal.

After Campbell entered the shop's office, Castillo grabbed Campbell and held him while a second assailant hit him in the head with a hammer, authorities said.

The five assailants interrogated, tortured, and eventually killed Campbell in the garage, before dumping his body in the Penny Road Pond in unincorporated Cook County near Barrington, authorities said.

Major Case Squad investigating sex offender's death in Cahokia

2-7-2014 Illinois:

(KMOV) – The St. Louis-area Major Case Squad is investigating after a man was found dead in Cahokia on Thursday.

Authorities responded to the 100 block of Amelia Dr. around 9:30 p.m. and found 26-year-old William Harriel Jr. shot to death.

According to Illinois State Police records, Harriel Jr. was a registered sex offender and was previously charged with sexual abuse of a victim between 13 and 16 years old.

Police continue to look for suspects in the case.

Anyone with information on the crime is asked to call the Major Case Squad at (618)-825-5700. ..Source.. by KMOV.com staff

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Sex offender murder in Parkfield Terrace draws Major Case Squad

The murder of a registered sex offender Thursday night in the Parkfield Terrace neighborhood led to a call for help to the Major Case Squad of Greater St. Louis.

William E. Harriel Jr., 26, of Parkfield Terrace, was found dead on the ground after the St. Clair County Sheriff's Department was called at 9:26 p.m. Thursday, said Lt. George Mokriakow. Harriel appeared to have died after being shot near 159 Amelia Drive.