Monday, December 23, 2013

Wm. Ross still in Nevada jail

November 6: woman's body found in McHenry-area vacant house.
November 7: William Ross jailed in the Clark County (Nev.) Correctional Center in Las Vegas.

Extradition starts. Supposed to be a no-brainer. Just prove the guy in jail is the one wanted in McHenry County for concealment of a homicidal death.

Maybe it's not so simple as announced.

The woman has not been publicly identified yet.
The cause of death has not yet been released.

How many stories have there been in our local paper? The last one was November 12.

December 22: Ross is still in jail in Las Vegas. According to jail records there, he is being held as a fugitive from another state on a complaint or warrant. Online records seem to indicate that he has a felony arraignment there on February 13.

What is a fugitive? Wikipedia: "A fugitive (or runaway) is a person who is fleeing from custody, whether it be from jail, a government arrest, government or non-government questioning, vigilante violence, or outraged private individuals. A fugitive from justice, also known as a wanted person, can either be a person convicted or accused of a crime, who is hiding from law enforcement in the state or taking refuge in a different country in order to avoid arrest in another country."

If a person leaves an area before he is charged with a crime (or even before a crime is discovered), is he a "fugitive" or only a wanted person. Could a crafty lawyer spring him from the Nevada jail because of the wording there? How does the McHenry County Complaint that resulted in charges here, and his arrest there, read?

A caretaker had been maintaining the outside property for a year. What prompted him (or her) to enter the house and open a sealed room?

Is the McHenry County (Ill.) Sheriff's Department still open? What would be a reason for withholding the identity of the dead woman for so long?

2 comments:

Gus said...

At 12:59PM the Northwest Herald published an article that identified the dead woman as Jacqueline R. Schaefer, 45. The Sheriff's Dept. knew the identity for several weeks but withheld it from the public.

The Sheriff's Dept. and the Coroner have not released the cause of death. They know that, too.

Her age is given as 45. There is an extensive McHenry County Court record for a Jacqueline R. Schaefer born in 1964. The last court activity was in 2009, when she would have been 45. Has she been dead since then?

Court records show a 2008 case involving William J. Ross vs. Jacqueline R. Schaefer.

Matt said...

still show a person, William Ross in custody on a fugitive warrant as of 1pm December 30th. Jail is Clark County Detention Center in downtown Las Vegas.

source: Las Vegas Bail Agent