Judge denies dismissal of 2021 Elwood murder case

A Will County judge decided not to dismiss an Elwood murder case after finding that there was no bad faith on the part of prosecutors regarding a detective’s missing field notes.

On Thursday, Judge Amy Bertani-Tomczak ruled that the first-degree murder case against Derrell Draper, 42, of Joliet, can move forward despite the missing field notes.

But Bertani-Tomczak barred Channahon Police Chief Adam Bogart from testifying at trial about those notes.

Bogart was one of the detectives in the investigation that led to Draper facing a charge in connection with the death of Robert Bigger, 30, of Shorewood, on Feb. 26, 2021.

Draper’s case is set for a court hearing Oct. 21 to determine whether evidence should be suppressed based on Draper’s girlfriend’s claim that she did not consent to a search of her apartment.

Draper’s attorneys contend that a handwriting specialist found the signature on a consent form did not belong to the girlfriend.

The issue regarding the girlfriend’s consent of the apartment search is linked to the now-failed defense motion for a dismissal of the case based on Bogart’s missing notes.

Bogart’s notes regarded a conversation he had with Draper’s girlfriend.

Draper’s attorneys claimed that the notes could have shed light on whether she allowed officers to search her apartment and signed the consent form.

Will County Assistant State’s Attorney Michael Fitzgerald said Bogart turned over his notes to the Elwood Police Department, but the notes appeared to have been misplaced or lost at the department.

Fitzgerald said there is no evidence the notes were intentionally destroyed.

He said Bogart documented his notes in a report, and his conversation with Draper’s girlfriend was not about her consent of the apartment search.

Fitzgerald had called the dismissal of the case based on the missing notes an “extreme sanction.”