All DNA evidence allowed at upcoming Sycamore double murder trial, rules judge

SYCAMORE – Prosecutors’ requests were granted by a judge Tuesday in their plan to use DNA evidence as key in an upcoming double murder trial to allege that Jonathan Hurst, formerly of Chicago, brutally beat to death a Sycamore mother and son in 2016.

Patricia A. Wilson, 85, and Robert J. Wilson, 64, were found dead inside their rural Sycamore home on Old State Road Aug. 15, 2016. Authorities believe they were killed the night before, however.

Much remains unknown about the violent way an elderly mother and active member of St. John’s Lutheran Church of Sycamore, and her son known affectionately as “Smiley”, the president of Sycamore Moose Lodge, met their end. Police haven’t said how the attacker got to Sycamore and entered their home, what was used to bludgeon them to death or why anyone would do such a thing.

Lead prosecutor Suzanne Collins said the state believes they know who did it though, and DNA evidence will point to Jonathan Hurst, now 55.

Buick ruled Tuesday that no DNA evidence will be barred from being presented during the trial, set to convene June 24. Hurst’s defense lawyer, Chip Criswell, had asked Buick to bar specific evidence from being used, such as samples taken from an upstairs bathroom sink faucet, from the handle of a bayonet and from the right-hand fingernails of Patricia Wilson.

“It is a very high burden for the court to rule that relevant evidence should be barred from trial…under the defense’s argument here the court cannot make this finding. DNA evidence is evidence and it can be considered by the jury. The jury can determine what weight should be given to the evidence. DNA like the evidence is subject to witnesses testifying and DNA evidence test results are subject to cross-examination.”

[ Prosecutors say DNA key evidence ahead of June murder trial for Jonathan Hurst, charged in Wilson slayings ]

Some of the objects Hurst’s defense had sought to exclude are items prosecutors have alleged had Hurst’s DNA on them, according to court records.

Prosecutors allege that Illinois State Police forensic results show Hurst’s DNA was identified on the front and back sides of a pillow in the downstairs laundry room, on the handle of a large chef’s knife, a Diet Coke can found in the kitchen, the handle of a bayonet found in the lower level bedroom, the handle of the upstairs bathroom sink faucet, a Gatorade bottle found in the garage, a bathroom mirror and a sliding glass door.

Those items were listed in court records filed when prosecutors sought a judicial order to collect DNA samples from Hurst in July 2020.

Hurst has previously denied ever being in Sycamore. He pleaded not guilty to his charges in March 2020.

Prosecutors said authorities could still place him at the murder scene, however.

Both Wilsons died of blunt-force head trauma, the DeKalb County Coroner’s office ruled. They were found fully clothed in separate rooms. Robert Wilson also suffered stab wounds, according to autopsy records obtained through public records requests.

Hurst, of Cincinnati, Ohio, appeared for his hearing virtually Tuesday from where he’s been held without bond at the DeKalb County Jail for the past four years since his February 2020 arrest. He could be seen taking notes during the proceedings. At certain points, he squinted his eyes, shook or nodded his head.

If convicted, he faces a life sentence.

By the time a jury convenes, the loved ones of the Wilsons will have waited almost eight years to find out what happened.

Patricia Wilson’s 2010 Chevrolet Impala was found nine days after the attack on Stockton Avenue near Chicago’s Lincoln Park Zoo, where Illinois Route 64 – which runs north all the way to the Wilson home – ends, according to the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office. The Impala’s location was just a short walk from where Hurst lived in Chicago, police said at the time.

The Wilsons likely were killed between 7:43 p.m. when Patricia was last on the phone with her sister, and sometime shortly after midnight, because about 12:44 a.m. Aug. 15, 2016, surveillance footage picked up Patricia’s car traveling east on Route 64. Footage does not show who the driver is, however, police have said.

His cellphone records also put Hurst in the area at the time the Wilsons were killed, Sheriff Andy Sullivan, then former chief deputy, said at the time.

Also at the request of prosecutors, Buick banned the word “polygraph” and any references to polygraph testing from use at trial. She said case law has proven that such tests are not reliable.

Against the defense’s objections, Buick will allow statements from an Aug. 14, 2016, phone call allegedly between Patricia Wilson and her sister to be used at trial. Prosecutors have said they intend to bring in those statements to prove what Patricia was doing the night of the attack.

“It will be the jury’s responsibility to weigh such evidence and draw reasonable inferences from the evidence at trial.”

Hurst is expected to appear at 9 a.m. May 29 for one of his final hearings before his trial. Buick set that day as a deadline for his defense to show who they intend to bring forward as reputation witnesses on his behalf.

Other witnesses expected to be called during the trial include detectives from the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office who interviewed Hurst, Wilson family members, forensic experts, and other law enforcement officials who responded to the double homicide.