Prosecutor says money a motivation in Maquon murder case

By NICK VLAHOS
For The Weekly Post

GALESBURG – Money might have been a primary motivation for a woman accused of murdering the former Maquon police chief, according to prosecutors.

Tens of thousands of dollars were withdrawn from bank accounts Richard Young shared with Marcy Oglesby, Knox County State’s Attorney Ashley Worby said Monday. Worby made that accusation in court during a motion hearing in Oglesby’s case, which is scheduled to go to trial next week.

Oglesby’s name was added to the accounts about the time Young is believed to have died from poisoning, in October or November 2021, according to Worby. Financial records show more than $40,000 was in play.
“It transfers from his savings to his checking, and it drains from there,” Worby said about Young’s accounts. “Marcy, Marcy, Marcy is all you see there.”

Some of that money was to be used for an Oglesby purchase of real estate in the Knoxville area, but she said a boyfriend in Nigeria advised her not to buy it, Worby alleged in court. Public defender David Hansen, one of Oglesby’s attorneys, questioned Worby’s assertions.

“I see no evidence this (money) was used by Miss Oglesby,” Hansen said. “We have no idea where that money went. … There is no evidence she stood to gain financially from Mr. Young’s death.”

Another motion hearing in front of Judge Andrew Doyle was scheduled for 10 a.m. today (April 17). Among other items, Doyle intends to decide whether to again delay Oglesby’s trial, based on defense attorneys’ arguments that they haven’t had sufficient opportunity to review evidence.

“This seems to be a very messy situation,” Hansen said. “Things aren’t being done as cleanly as they should be in a case this big. We both want to get this trial over with. But my concern is will we be better off postponing it?”

In addition to first-degree murder, the 53-year-old Oglesby has been charged with concealment of a homicidal death. She and another Maquon woman, Karen Doubet, are accused of using eye drops to poison Young’s food and drink. Doubet, Oglesby and Young resided together.

Oglesby was arrested in October 2022 after the decomposing body of 71-year-old Young was found in a box inside a Maquon storage locker. Doubet was arrested last October; charges against her and Oglesby are similar.

Doubet, 79, is to appear in court again May 5.

Clad in a bright-blue Reebok hoodie and yoga-style pants, Oglesby was silent during the two-hour hearing Monday. Oglesby sat between Hansen and her other attorney, public defender Christopher Kanthak.
Worby and Assistant State’s Attorney Matthew Hoppock portrayed Oglesby as untrustworthy, among other things. They accused her of selling some of Young’s possessions, including firearms and a recreational vehicle, while she was concealing Young’s death.

“The level of broad deceit and corruption with this defendant is mind-boggling,” Hoppock said.

Said Kanthak: “Everything we’re talking about here is conjecture.”

Both sides sparred on other issues, including what evidence can be presented during the trial. Hansen and Kanthak said they have not received or have only recently received some evidence. Crime-scene and autopsy photographs were a focus.

“We have no idea what’s going to be tendered by the state,” Kanthak said. “The best way to handle this is to bar it all.”

Worby said the defense has had most of the evidence for years and called its claims disingenuous.
The prosecution is excluding about 30 graphic photos, and some 100 to 150 photos remain in question.

“We were not ordered to give them a list of every single photo we were going to admit,” Worby said. “That’s just wrong. … It’s not an argument made in good faith.”

Doyle sided with Worby but suggested the parties work together to pare the photos. He sounded less likely to agree with the defense’s effort to delay the trial. Jury selection is to begin April 23.

Oglesby’s trial has been postponed numerous times, the most recent in February.

“Every time we kick this down the road, one more case jumps on top of it,” Doyle said. “This case is three years old. As we sit here right now, we’re full steam ahead.”