By NICK VLAHOS
For The Weekly Post
GALESBURG – The prosecution and the defense raised possibilities of another delay in the court case of a woman accused of murdering the former Maquon police chief.
Still, the trial of Marcy Oglesby appears closer to commencing than it has in a while. Maybe.
Oglesby first was arrested 2½ years ago regarding Richard Young’s death. Jury selection in Oglesby’s trial was expected to begin Wednesday, April 23. But following a motion hearing April 17 in Knox County Circuit Court, public defender David Hansen indicated the schedule might be adjusted.
Adding credence to that was a motion the defense made Tuesday to continue the case. The defense has received additional evidence it hasn’t had a chance to review, according to a representative of the public-defender’s office.
It wasn’t clear when or if Judge Andrew Doyle might hold a continuance hearing. Another felony case, that of Galesburg resident Jason Fielder, also was to begin jury selection Wednesday. Doyle suggested progress in the Oglesby case might depend on how quickly the Fielder case progresses.
Fielder is accused of attempted murder and aggravated arson in connection with a house fire last August in Galesburg.
“The defendant could come in and plead guilty. We could start your trial almost immediately,” Doyle told Oglesby, who appeared at the hearing last week.
Immediately after that 45-minute hearing ended, Hansen said jury selection might begin April 28 or 29. Doyle was expected to return to the bench Wednesday following a vacation.
Doyle suggested the jury pool appeared to be more limited than usual, because of other trials and a reduced summons-return rate. Publicity the Oglesby case has received in the Galesburg area might also make jury selection more difficult.
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.
During the motion hearing last week, Doyle rejected a different Hansen request to delay the trial. Hansen based it on recent receipt of some of Oglesby’s bank records. In an earlier motion hearing, State’s Attorney Ashley Worby accused Oglesby of draining Young’s bank accounts.
Doyle set a Feb. 28 deadline for discovery evidence, as Hansen noted.
“This is not new evidence. This is evidence they could have obtained a year ago,” he said. “We didn’t introduce any new evidence. I don’t understand why the state seems to think court orders apply to everybody except the prosecution.”
Worby said the prosecution’s case isn’t changed because of the bank records, which her office received recently from an account that’s been known to the defense for years. Doyle concurred.
“An essential part of the motive was the money that was in the victim’s accounts, and this is a continuation of that line of evidence and theory,” he said.
But Worby said an unexpected problem for the prosecution might result in her asking for a trial continuance.
The forensic toxicologist who prepared Young’s report was not the same one who conducted tests of Young’s skeletal and muscle-tissue remains. That might cause an issue regarding witness testimony, according to Worby, who discovered the problem two days before the hearing.
“When I hear a report from a scientist, that scientist was personally responsible for the testing,” she said. “This was a surprise to me. I’ve never had this situation before.”
The Illinois State Police Forensic Science Laboratory in Morton usually performs such testing in Knox County cases, according to Worby, but a private firm in Pennsylvania handled Young’s case.
Doyle said he believed there was enough time before the trial to clarify that situation.
