Maquon murder case headed to bench trial
By NICK VLAHOS
For The Weekly Post
GALESBURG – A bench trial, not a jury trial, has been scheduled for late June for a woman accused of murdering the former Maquon police chief.
Marcy Oglesby waived her jury-trial right Monday during a hearing in Knox County Circuit Court. Oglesby was implicated in October 2022 regarding the death of Richard Young, whose decomposing body was found that month in a Maquon storage locker.
Numerous hearings and rulings have happened in Oglesby’s case since then. But until the hearing Monday in front of Judge Andrew Doyle, a jury trial for Oglesby had been assumed. Following the hearing, public defender David Hansen didn’t go into detail regarding the bench-trial rationale.
“It’s an individual client’s decision. That was the decision that was made,” said Hansen, one of Oglesby’s attorneys. “It’s her decision solely.”
The bench trial, with Doyle presiding, is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. June 23. The trial is expected to last at least three days, according to attorneys for the defense and the prosecution. What probably is a final pretrial hearing, according to Hansen, was set for June 13.
“I think that it’s very likely that we’ll be going forward with the trial June 23,” he said. “I don’t see any reason why we wouldn’t.”
Oglesby appeared in the courtroom shortly before noon Monday, about three hours after Doyle’s case schedule for the day began. All of Doyle’s other morning cases had been handled by about 11:30 a.m. By the time Oglesby’s case was called, only four people remained in the usually crowded courtroom gallery.
Following the hearing, a woman in the audience approached Oglesby while she was sitting at the front of the courtroom. The woman conversed with Oglesby briefly and held her arm before departing.
Last month, Oglesby pleaded guilty to forgery and possessing firearms illegally, charges connected with Young’s death. Doyle sentenced her to one year of non-reporting probation.
Oglesby and another Maquon woman, Karen Doubet, are accused of poisoning Young, then hiding his body.
A Fulton County plea hearing regarding a bad-check charge against Oglesby was rescheduled from May 28 to July 9.
