DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin announced last week that the Second District Appellate Court of Illinois affirmed the first-degree murder conviction and 70-year sentence of Jeffrey Keller, 56, formerly of Hinsdale, for the execution-style murder of 37-year-old Nathan Fox of Bloomingdale.
Following a jury trial, Keller was sentenced Aug. 25, 2017, to 70 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections.
Fox was found at his residence with multiple gunshot wounds on Dec. 22, 2014, after Bloomingdale police responded to a call of a person shot. An investigation found that prior to the shooting, Keller was waiting outside Fox’s home. When Fox returned, Keller approached him and shot him as he exited his vehicle. Keller then fled the scene.
In his appeal, Keller contended that the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress statements he alleged were made as the result of a violation of his Miranda rights. Keller criticized the manner in which the warnings were delivered to him, arguing it minimized their importance
The appellate court found “this argument wholly unpersuasive” and stated “the warnings as given by police were adequate.” It also noted that the “trial court found, ‘The understanding of his rights is further supported by the fact that at some point in the interview he exercised his right to be silent.’ ”
Keller also alleged the trial court erred in denying his motions to suppress incriminating recordings of a phone conversation which were made pursuant to a court order. The appellate court found these claims “unpersuasive as well,” finding that the alleged prejudice potentially caused by these recordings was “highly speculative.”
Berlin thanked the appellate court for its work.
“His attempt to call into question the well-deserved sentence imposed upon him for the cowardly, calculated, cold-hearted murder of Nate Fox demonstrates not only the complete lack of remorse he has for murdering an innocent man, but also puts on display his absolute disregard for the rule of law and the concept of justice.”
