Illinois Department of Corrections / February 7, 2014
Update February 14th: Go to ‘Limits to Growth’ and check out the photo of the murderer and his victim blogger Brenda Walker found!
He is serving a 35-year sentence (or so I think) for the murder of a 47-year old substance abuse counselor. He took her to a bike path and shot her in the head. The refugee, Garang Deng, was 14 at the time.
Now due to some legal wrangling over the length of his sentence, he may be retried.
From the Chicago Tribune:
When Garang Deng pleaded guilty to murder more than four years ago, it seemed like the final act of a tale that stretched from war-torn Sudan to a peaceful Kane County bike path.
After breaking into the home of Marilyn Bethell of Aurora in October 2005, Deng took her to the Illinois Prairie Path and shot her once in the head, Kane County prosecutors said.
Almost immediately after his guilty plea in 2009, Deng regretted it and began the legal process to withdraw the plea. An appeals court ruled in his favor in June.
Deng is scheduled to return to Kane County on Tuesday in his first court appearance in legal proceedings that eventually could lead to a new trial.
“We’re preparing as if we’re going to trial,” State’s Attorney Joe McMahon said.
Deng, who was 14 at the time of the slaying, was a Sudanese refugee whose family had left the African nation when he was a young boy to seek a more peaceful life. But Deng accumulated a history of juvenile offenses in DuPage County beginning at age 11, authorities said.
No mention of whether he knew his victim or picked her at random.
There is more, read it all.
Remember! “Welcoming” communities are responsible for the legal costs of immigrant criminals!
It’s too bad, as I’ve said before, that the US State Department isn’t financially responsible when one of their refugees is tried in criminal court and sentenced to prison. Although it is still the taxpayer’s money, it would send a message to Washington if Washington had to pay for expensive court proceedings and prisons!