Parole Party Murder: Minooka Man Gets Probation For Killing

JOLIET, IL — More than two years ago, 29-year-old Nathan Hofkamp emerged from a downstate prison with a smile on his face. He hopped in a vehicle and headed home. That night in Minooka, his family opened a gallon of vodka. They threw him a small parole party at the house of his mother's boyfriend, James "Jim" Hess.

Twelve hours later, Hofkamp was dead, shot in the chest by Hess, who was not intoxicated at the party, according to court testimony. At Thursday afternoon's second-degree murder sentencing before Will County Circuit Judge David Carlson, the 67-year-old Minooka resident emerged from the Will County Courthouse a free man.

Carlson, indicating he was following the strict sentencing guidelines enacted by Illinois lawmakers, determined that probation, not prison, was most appropriate for the Minooka senior citizen who fatally shot his former girlfriend's son in the chest more than two years ago at his house in Minooka.

The homicide happened on the same day that Nathan Hofkamp was released from prison, just hours after he celebrated his release by posting "Finally free" on Facebook.

Carlson gave Hess 48 months of probation. He also ordered Hess to pay court costs and restitution to the Hofkamp family.

"These are terrible, terrible situations," Carlson told the courtroom. "There's not a magic formula (of) A plus B equals justice."

Carlson pointed out that the language in Illinois sentencing guidelines stressed the word "shall" regarding second-degree murder convictions and other crimes that qualify for probation.

Back on April 14, 2017, during the welcome home parole party, Hess grew angry with the late night racket and fired a few warning shots inside his own house.

Moments later, "My son Nathan went around the wall to get the gun away from Jim and Jim shot him," the victim's mother wrote the court.

During Thursday's sentencing hearing that lasted around 90 minutes, Hess walked to the front of Judge Carlson's courtroom and took responsibility for killing Hofkamp.

Hess broke down several times and had to stop talking to regain his composure.

In the years before the shooting, Hess told the judge he chose to overlook "missing money, missing guns and missing tools," and there were other times he bailed his girlfriend's son out of jail and paid for him to stay in various motels.

While Hofkamp was in the downstate Illinois prison, Hess told Judge Carlson, he gave him substantial financial support, paying for his phone calls and putting money on his commissary account.

Hess also told the judge he had given Hofkamp a place to live and wanted to help him become a productive citizen upon his release from prison.

"I never had any ill will or trouble with Nathan," Hess told Judge Carlson as his voice cracked. "I am truly sorry for the tragic events that occurred. I am ready to take responsibility for my actions."

The Will County murder happened on North Canal Road in Minooka.

In 2017, Hess spent four days in the Will County Jail after being charged with two counts of first-degree murder. He posted 10 percent of his $1 million bail on April 18, 2017. He's remained free ever since. This past April, the Will County State's Attorney's Office worked out a plea with Hess, who was represented by downtown Joliet criminal attorneys Ed Masters and Jeff Tomczak of The Tomczak Law Group.

The first-degree murder charges were dropped and Hess agreed to plead guilty to the second-degree murder offense.

After Thursday's sentencing, Tomczak told Joliet Patch he felt confident his client would have been acquitted if the State's Attorney's Office had gone to trial on the first-degree murder charge.

"The bottom line is, if Mr. Hess is holding a firearm to protect himself, and (if) you rush someone holding a firearm, you're making the decision of what they're going to do at that point in time," Tomczak explained to Patch.

Tomczak also said that he felt Carlson made the correct decision by not imposing a prison sentence for Hess.

"We believe his sentence is completely required by the law, which says, 'A sentence shall require probation unless there's extenuating circumstances.' And the State presented no extenuating circumstances on behalf of Mr. Hess."

For decades, Hess was a welder for the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers and Shipbuilders Local 1, based in Chicago.

One of his long-time supervisors, Robert Schwartz, testified as a character witness at Thursday's sentencing. Schwartz, a Shorewood resident, has previously served on the Shorewood Police Commission and he is currently a member of the Troy Fire Protection District.

Schwartz said that Hess was an extremely dependable welder for decades who never failed any tests involving drugs or alcohol.

"Jim is a responsible person," Schwartz told the courtroom. "He admitted his mistake."

When Masters asked his witness whether Hess would successfully complete a term of probation, the Shorewood man answered, "Absolutely he would. His sentence (is) ... knowing the fact that he took a life."

One of Hess' sisters, Patricia, also testified. She, like her brother, and their father, were also journeyman boilermakers.

"He still lives in Minooka. I see him every Saturday for lunch," she testified about her brother.

Assistant State's Attorney Chris Koch informed the court that Hess had one prior DUI conviction and got court supervision for a misdemeanor battery conviction.

According to statements introduced by Koch at the sentencing, Hess admitted to occasional use of cocaine.

Hess also had a shooting range in his basement. However, his FOID card has been revoked as a result of the homicide.

"He's like my father," Patricia Hess responded. "Three beers is his limit."

Koch struggled to answer a question posed by Judge Carlson when asked how many years of imprisonment Koch believed was necessary in order to serve as a deterrent for others not to commit the same crime.

Earlier, Koch asked the judge to impose a term of prison for the 67-year-old Minooka resident, but he didn't specify a number of years.

Second-degree murder carried a possible prison term of four to 20 years. (For more legal background, learn what constitutes second-degree murder in Illinois.)

After more than an hour of testimony, Judge Carlson took a 10-minute break and then returned to his courtroom to announce his reasoning for giving Hess probation.

Nathan Hofkamp's tragic death, the judge explained, is a painful reminder to everyone, that lives can be forever destroyed by what someone does "in a second."

"And I'm fairly certain you would take that second back if you could, Mr. Hess, but you could not," Judge Carlson said. "You're going to have to deal with this the rest of your days."