Former Algonquin Man Convicted of Killing Bartlett Man to Avoid Drug Debt

A Kane County jury found a former Algonquin man guilty this past week of murdering a 36-year-old Bartlett man to avoid paying a drug debt, prosecutors said.

Gary M. Bennett, 38, Denver, Colo., was convicted on Tuesday of first-degree murder and concealing a homicidal death in the Aug. 10, 2014 fatal shooting of Keith K. Crawford. The jury deliberated for 2.5 hours before reaching a verdict.

During the trial, Kane County prosecutors said Crawford frequently supplied cocaine to Bennett, and Bennett owed Crawford money for the drugs. On the night of Aug. 10, 2014, Bennett and his friend, co-defendant Joan Sebastian Vado-Bonilla, 29, of West Dundee, drove to a party in unincorporated Dundee Township. There, Bennett convinced Crawford to drive with them to a location near Valley View to get money to partially repay Crawford and to buy more cocaine, according to a Kane County State's Attorney's Office news release.

Crawford sat in the front passenger seat and Bennett sat behind Crawford while Vado-Bonilla drove. As the car traveled south on Route 31 in West Dundee, Bennett drew a handgun and shot Crawford in the back of the head, killing him, according to a news release.

Bennett and Vado-Bonilla discarded Crawford’s body in a large garbage bin at an apartment complex on Todd Farm Road in Elgin. Crawford’s body was never found.

The case was unsolved for nearly a year until Vado-Bonilla came forward and agreed to cooperate with investigators, according to the news release.

Vado-Bonilla pleaded guilty Dec. 11, 2015, to concealment of a homicidal death, a Class 3 felony. He awaits sentencing.

Bennett is next expected in court on April 20 where a judge will hear motions and set a sentencing date.

Bennett faces a minimum sentence of 45 years and a max sentence of life in prison life imprisonment in the Illinois Department of Corrections. Bennett remains in custody in the Kane County jail, where he had been held since his extradition from Colorado in lieu of $5 million bail.

Photo via Kane County State's Attorney's Office