Former Soldier on Trial For Uncle's Murder Pleads Guilty

A former soldier on trial for his uncle’s murder raised the white flag Friday and pleaded guilty, saving himself from a possible life sentence.

Because he used a gun to kill his uncle Lance Goebel, Jason Gonzalez was looking at 45 years to life in prison if found guilty. Prosecutors reduced that to a sentence of 20 to 60 years.

“The guilty plea guarantees a conviction, removes any appellate issues — takes them all off the table,” and still ensures a “significant sentence,” said Charles B. Pelkie, the spokesman for the Will County State’s Attorney’s Office.

Gonzalez, 29, had declined the services of a public defender and was representing himself. The trial was in its second week and the prosecution had yet to rest its case.

Gonzalez has been jailed on the murder charges since September 2009. He allegedly shot Goebel numerous times with a 9-mm handgun, then stole $1,000 and his uncle’s Chevy HHR. The vehicle was later located about a mile from Goebel’s residence outside New Lenox.

Goebel’s wife found her husband dead in the home. Several days later, the police caught Gonzalez sleeping in his mother’s 1997 Saturn, which he reportedly borrowed from her shortly before the killing. Gonzalez was parked behind a bush on Larkin Avenue in Joliet, police said.

Gonzalez had lived with Goebel but his uncle kicked him out not long before the murder, police said. In between his departure from his uncle’s home and the killing, Gonzalez sent an email to an aunt living in Seattle and told her he was going to “get even” with Goebel, according to court papers.

Gonzalez was stationed in Guantanamo Bay during his eight months in the Army in 2005 and 2006. His time in the military was cut short when he was discharged for medical reasons, according to a filing that claimed Gonzalez was “given a diagnosis of personality disorder with passive aggressive and borderline features.”

The filing also said that prior to his discharge, Gonzalez suffered from “major depressive disorder, moderate severe, single episode, though complicated by longer-standing personality traits.”