27 Years Prison: Brutal Joliet Township Baseball Bat Murder

JOLIET, IL — Seven-and-a-half years after Joliet Township resident Robert Bielec was beaten to death in his driveway with a baseball bat, Will County Judge Vincent Cornelius sentenced Blaique Morgan to 27 years of imprisonment at the Illinois Department of Corrections.

"This was an unthinkable tragedy that visited two households. There are no winners here," the judge remarked.

Morgan, now 26 years old, will get credit for time already served — 2,724 days, according to the judge. The remaining portion of Morgan's sentence will be served at 100 percent, Will County prosecutors noted.

Morgan faced a term ranging anywhere between 20 years and 60 years in prison. A resident of 1702 Houston Avenue in Preston Heights, Morgan has lived in the Will County Jail for almost all of his adult life. He was taken into custody by the Will County Sheriff's detectives on Jan. 8, 2016. His younger brother, Amari, now 25, and also in custody, still awaits trial.

Judge Cornelius noted during Friday's sentencing that Blaique Morgan "was not the principal actor in this case."

Last Nov. 14, Judge Cornelius pronounced Blaique Morgan guilty of two counts of first-degree murder following a two-week-long bench trial.

Friday's courtroom was packed as relatives of Bielec, the murder victim, and Morgan, the convicted killer, attended to learn the sentencing outcome.

Cornelius told everyone that the 62-year-old Bielec exhibited peculiar behavior in the days leading up to his murder. Bielec had wandered over toward the Morgan house, and he was accused of making a sexual remark to the 15-year-old sister of the Morgan brothers.

On Friday, Judge Cornelius announced that Blaique Morgan's role in the slaying of his next door neighbor was "a continuity of bad decisions ... what if the defendant's mother had called the police? What if the defendant went to the residence at an appropriate time of day to have a conversation with him?"

Cornelius told Morgan, "vigilante justice is not acceptable in a lawful, law-abiding society. The court is also mindful that it is necessary to deter others from this kind of conduct in the future."

Morgan was responsible for concealing and destroying evidence after the murder happened, the judge pointed out. The bloody baseball bat was disposed of and never found by Will County Sheriff's detectives.

The Morgan brothers ambushed Bielec and bashed in his skull, causing him to die from head trauma moments after Bielec pulled into his driveway, under the dark of night, around 10:30 p.m. on Jan. 7, 2016.

"As the court said, there are no winners, no losers," Cornelius remarked.