Hinsdale Man Sentenced To 70 Years For 2014 Bloomingdale Murder

HINSDALE, IL — Jeffrey Keller, formerly of Hinsdale, has been sentenced to 70 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections for the murder of a Bloomingdale man. Keller, 54, shot 37-year-old Nathan Fox to death in his Bloomingdale driveway in December in 2014. Keller was motivated by an imaginary love triangle he'd concocted, falsely believing Fox was a romantic rival for the affections of a woman Keller was "emotionally involved with," authorities said.

In May, a jury found Keller guilty in the ambush murder of Fox, a former professional basketball player and Plainfield High School Athletic Hall of Famer. The Bloomingdale Police Department responded to a call of a person shot at the residence Fox shared with his girlfriend just after 9:30 p.m. Dec. 22, 2014. Upon arrival, officers found Fox in his vehicle with multiple gunshot wounds, including one to his right wrist and one to his left shoulder in which the bullet had traveled through his body. Fox was immediately transported to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

An investigation into the murder revealed that at some time prior to the shooting, Keller went to Fox’s home, unscrewed an outside lightbulb and waited outside for him to return. When Fox returned to his home, Keller approached Fox after he pulled into the garage and shot him just as he opened the door to exit his vehicle. After murdering Fox, Keller then fled the scene.

“In Jeffrey Keller’s mind, Nate Fox was a threat that had to be eliminated,” DuPage County State's Attorney Robert Berlin said in a release. “So, three days before Christmas 2014, Jeffrey Keller’s evil plot of eliminating Nate Fox, a man he had never met yet considered a romantic rival, came to fruition." (For more information on this and other neighborhood stories, subscribe to Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts.)

Berlin said the defense claimed Nate Fox was accidentally killed in a struggle — but the jury rejected Keller’s attempt to avoid responsibility for the murder.

"With the final chapter of this needless tragedy completed, it is my sincerest hope Nate Fox’s family and friends will now be able to gain some measure of closure with the knowledge that the man who killed Nate Fox will spend the rest of his life behind bars," Berlin added in the release.

A college friend of Keller's who met with him weeks after the murder said he confessed to the crime during a visit to Texas. The friend called police, leading to Keller's arrest in January 2015. He has remained in custody since his arrest after a judge denied his bond.

Prosecutors called Keller "maniacally unhinged," saying he stalked Fox for more than a year before lying in wait and ambushing him.

Photo via DuPage County Sheriff's Office.