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Volume 39 Number 52 Thursday, December 27, 2018 32 Pages | 75¢ Prosecutors respond to Chris Coleman’s call for a new trial By Travis Lott Prosecutors have finally responded to a petition for post conviction relief filed by Chris Coleman in April of this year. Monroe County State’s Attorney Chris Hitzemann and appellate prosecutor Charles Zalar filed a mo- tion to dismiss the peti- tion on the grounds that evidence cited in Coleman’s petition did not fundamen- tally change the case. Chris Coleman The truck that caused the fire was pulled out of the building. Coleman was convicted in 2011 of murdering his wife ‘What a person tells Sheri and sons Garret, 11, and Gavin, 9, in 2009. a television program He is serving concurrent Fire damages Nobbe building life sentences. or newspaper may A storage building on the Reitz said the fire started their braces were burned, Coleman’s petition in April be different than William Nobbe farm imple- in a service truck that was and the truck was a total contended that the jury ment business at the Steel- parked inside the building. loss. convicted him based on what the juror is eville tee was damaged by He said Nobbe people told “But the building is prob- evidence that was deemed fire during the late hours him the truck had not been ably not a total loss,” Reitz by the court to be inadmis- prepared to state of Thursday, December 20. used that day but had been said. “There was a side-by- sible. under oath’ Steeleville Fire Chief Rich used the previous day. side in there and some oth- The jury was given sex- Reitz said the alarm came in Equipment was used to er equipment. The side-by- ually explicit photos ex- —Prosecutor Hitzemann at 11:45 p.m. drag the truck out of the side did not sustain much changed by Coleman and “Smoke was coming out of building, but not before damage.” mistress Tara Lintz, an to convict, and that when the eaves when we arrived,” about half of the building Firemen were on the scene affair that prosecutors ar- all contentions of error said Reitz. “The building sits sustained damage, accord- for about two hours. Ches- gued was Coleman’s motive were considered, Coleman just northwest of the main ing to Reitz. ter was called in for use of to murder his family. received a fundamentally building.” Reitz said three trusses and its tanker. The photos were permit- fair trial. ted as evidence, but they Hitzemann also argued in were ordered to be cen- his motion that the state- sored before given to the ments made by jurors in a Bievenue wins the big jackpot jury. “48 Hours” segment and to When the jury received the Republic Times news- It wasn’t as big as the the photos, thumbnails on paper, where the juror previous drawing, but the the back of the images were mentioned the thumbnail Steeleville American Le- not censored and contained images being the turning gion’s Queen of Hearts time stamps that did not point, were not adequate game had another big win- match the timeline given in substitutes for sworn af- ner December 20. court by the defense. fidavits and thus were not The jackpot did not go A juror later stated that grounds for a further hear- to $1.5 million like it did seeing these time stamps ing. in April of this year, but was the turning point for “What a person tells a $928,612 is still a lot of mon- the jury in its decision to television program or ey. convict. newspaper may be dif- The latest winner is Mar- Hitzemann’s and Zalar’s ferent than what the ju- vin Bievenue of Ellis Grove. motion to dismiss argues ror is prepared to state His ticket was drawn, and that the function of a post under oath,” the motion he picked card No. 30, conviction petition is “not states. which was the Queen of to relitigate the guilt of the Coleman will be afford- Hearts. accused, but to review er- ed an opportunity to He was not in attendance, rors of constitutional mag- respond to the prosecu- so he gets half the pot, nitude that were not and tion’s motion before it is $464,556, before taxes. From left are drawing coordinator Bruce Fiene, Marvin could not have been raised ruled on by a judge. He Bievenue works at Gil- Bievenue and Harry Rahlfs of the Legion. on direct appeal.” has until January 18 to ster-Mary Lee but was not According to the prosecu- file that response. at work that night. He was said when he picked up his Bievenue said he has been tors’ motion, in Coleman’s Coleman’s father Ron of reached at his home and check at the Legion post last playing the Queen of Hearts 2014 appeal, the court Chester said this week, “We told the good news. Saturday. “I was really sur- game at Steeleville pretty found that evidence submit- know Chris is innocent. The “I was pretty excited,” he prised.” Continued on Page 5____ ted at trial was sufficient truth will come out.” Donnie Krull looks back on his police career cial Agent Melvin Brown Retiring from full-time detective job taught Krull the funda- mentals of spotting fields. By Travis Lott that he was considering, In doing this, Krull has Donnie Krull has a great but Sheriff Ben Picou flown a wide variety of deal to reflect on from his didn’t want to lose Krull’s aircraft. 28 years at the Randolph investigative abilities. Krull said that when he County sheriff’s office. “Ben Picou gave me my and Brown flew together, Though he has been a chance,” Krull said. it wasn’t a matter of if they major contributor—often Krull went to SIUC in would find something, it the key figure—to investi- 1986 and studied law en- was who would find it first. gations throughout south- forcement and zoology. His specializing in drug ern Illinois that have led He received a bachelor’s investigations led him to to thousands of arrests degree in administration be tapped for instructional and hundreds of prison of justice in 1991. While services. He trained be- sentences, he hasn’t talked in school, he also received tween 800 and 1,000 local much about it. his pilot’s license. and state police and Drug “You let your actions Krull said that, being Enforcement Administra- show what you do,” Krull an outdoorsman, his focus tion students. said. was always on conserva- However, toward the mid- Krull has held every pos- tion. dle of his career, the drug sible rank at the sheriff’s Through a college in- game changed. department, from deputy, ternship, Krull was linked “The crime wasn’t what it to detective and chief dep- with Carl Holland of the Il- is now,” Krull said. “There uty. linois Department of Con- was always a tie between Krull officially retired servation, later renamed property crime and drugs. from the sheriff’s depart- Department of Natural The increase in property ment December 17, but he Resources. The two had Donnie Krull crime came when crack continues to work on a met before, as Holland cocaine became prevalent.” part-time basis with newly had checked on him a few department April 30, 1992 drug enforcement and in- The crack problem gave hired detective Ryan Cof- times while Krull was run- and full-time December 1. vestigations. way to a more difficult prob- fey to make the transition ning trap lines and hunt- Prior to this, Krull served In the 1990s, the pre- lem to control—methamphet- smoother. Coffey has been ing during his youth. as a reserve deputy for Pi- dominant drugs were can- amine. Meth has permeated Chester police chief. When Krull started an cou before going to the po- nabis and cocaine. every community in south- Krull held the first de- internship, Holland took lice academy, where he fin- With his pilot’s license, ern Illinois, devastating the tective position in Ran- him under his wing and ished top of his class. Krull said he specialized lives of many young and old dolph County history. The mentored him. It was at the sheriff’s in locating cannabis fields alike. job was created for him Through Holland, Krull department that Krull’s by aircraft as an observ- Krull said meth is related in March of 1998. He had met Picou. Krull was hired career blossomed, and he er with the Illinois State a job offer in Collinsville part-time at the sheriff’s found he had a knack for Police. State Police Spe- Continued on Page 5____ Willis Publishing Inc. © Copyright 2018 MONEY $AVING COUPONS INSIDE! PAGE 2 COUNTY JOURNAL | DECEMBER 27, 2018 police Local fire department calls Coulterville firemen **** Chief Jim Gielow said were called out Decem- The state fire mar- the house was vacant ber 19 at about 1:10 p.m. shal’s office was called but still had electric- to 820 Roosevelt Road in this week to help in ity to it. He had no idea north of town. the investigation of a how it began. The fire was at Rosen- fire near Pinckneyville When firemen ar- thal Lumber. Accord- during the early morn- rived, the house was ful- ing to the fire report, a ing hours of December ly engulfed in flames, three-phase power line 26. and it was a total loss. fell onto some logs and A house at 6874 White Tamaroa assisted power equipment.

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