Body At Joliet Outlaws? Police Will Never Get Call: Expert

JOLIET, IL — If a guest of the Joliet Outlaws suffered a heart attack inside the club at 1915 Washington St., nobody in the club would call for the police or the paramedics, testified Ed Jauch, a retired law enforcement agent and expert in motorcycle club subculture.

On Tuesday, attorney Chuck Bretz called Jauch to testify as a defense expert witness in the first-degree murder trial of Jeremy Boshears, a patched member of the Joliet Outlaws. While Boshears and Katie Kearns, 24, were alone in the club, around 2 a.m. Nov. 13, 2017, Kearns died from a gunshot wound.

Outside the jury's presence on Tuesday, Colby O'Neal told the courtroom that Boshears told O'Neal and Jimmy McCoy, club president of Joliet Outlaws, that "she had shot herself." Then, McCoy told O'Neal and Boshears "that you guys needed to clean it up," O'Neal testified.

In the presence of the jury, Jauch testified he served as an undercover agent for several years, deputized by the FBI and U.S. Marshals, and is an expert in the motorcycle club subculture and in particular as to the Joliet Outlaws Motorcycle Club culture.

"I posed as a white supremacist and various things (involving) motorcycle club members," Jauch told the jury.

From 2001 until 2003, Jauch's undercover police work focused on the Joliet Outlaws.

"The main undercover goal is to protect other CIs (confidential informants) placed into the club or merely just build intelligence," Jauch testified.

The jury heard that Jauch has appeared on several TV shows about motorcycle subculture, including WGN's "Outlaw Country" and The History Channel's "Gangland."

Bretz asked Jauch to describe the standard bylaws for the Joliet Outlaws.

"You don't steal from your brother," Jauch testified. "There's no use of any injected narcotics. You don't try to flirt with other (members') wives or girlfriends or significant others," he said.

"As far as brotherhood, it's always first," Jauch continued. "Everything revolves around the club ... biking and brotherhood."

The Outlaws are known as a 1 percent motorcycle club, meaning they consider themselves the 1 percent who don't follow man's laws. However, the Outlaws are not the only 1 percent motorcycle club, Jauch told jurors.

As far as an infraction with the club, that could lead to a fine, expulsion or "physical violence enacted on you within the club," Jauch testified.

Would the Outlaws ever call the police, Bretz asked?

"No," Jauch answered.

"What if there was a dead body?" Bretz inquired.

"It would be removed from the clubhouse somehow, signifying we don't dial 911," Jauch told the jury.

According to prosecutors, between 2:45 a.m. and 4:05 a.m., Boshears made 30 phone calls, "each and every one to a fellow Outlaws member."

Boshears and another club member loaded Kearns' body into the back of her Jeep, and Boshears drove the Jeep to the St. Anne farm owned by Joliet Outlaw member Ronald Keagle, according to testimony. The Jeep was pushed into the pole barn, and Will County Sheriff's Office deputies found Kearns' body in the back, after cellular phone data tracked down the location of her phone.

The autopsy showed Kearns, 24, died from a single gunshot.

So why wouldn't the Joliet Outlaws call the police or paramedics if a guest inside the club died, Bretz inquired?

"That would be an infraction to talk to the police," Jauch testified. "Yeah, it's highly unlikely and frowned upon."

On the other hand, any guest invited inside the Joliet Outlaws club is treated with special importance by "their sponsor," Jauch explained.

Kearns, a 24-year-old bartender at Woody's, was invited to the club by Boshears, who was her new boyfriend, after her bar closed around midnight.

"He's 100 percent responsible for your safety," Jauch testified, referring to Boshears.

Bretz questioned why the Outlaws would not call the police in the event there was a dead body inside the club, even if the club had nothing to do with the death.

"They want no involvement with the authorities whatsoever," Jauch testified.

Would the Outlaws be okay with learning that members were cooperating with police?

"That's a hard no," Jauch testified. "A direct violation of everything the Outlaws stand for."

If a Joliet Outlaw contacted the police, would doing so lead to expulsion or physical harm, Bretz wondered.

"He could be," Jauch replied.

"Could he be killed?" Bretz followed up.

"Yes," Jauch agreed.

Bretz asked if an invited guest suffered a heart attack inside the Joliet Outlaws, would the club call police and paramedics under that scenario?

No, Jauch testified.

If there was a heart attack victim, the Outlaws would either drag the person outside or they would put them in a truck and drive them somewhere, Jauch suggested.

During cross-examination from Assistant State's Attorney Steven Platek, Jauch was asked if he knew the name of the Joliet Outlaws club president in 2017 or how many members it had?

Jauch answered,"No" to both questions.

"Were you a part of the Outlaws when Jeremy Boshears was a member?" Platek inquired.

"No," Jauch answered.

In the Kearns case, her body was driven 60 miles from the Joliet Outlaws clubhouse and put inside a pole barn owned by another Outlaw, Ron Keagle. Boshears, along with Ron and Georgia Keagle pushed the Jeep inside the pole barn, according to testimony.

"You wouldn't take the body to the property of another Outlaw member, would you?" Platek asked.

"I wouldn't think so, but everybody is different," Jauch answered.

Tuesday afternoon's testimony included retired Oak Park police detective Arthur Borchers, a forensic expert with Larsen & Associates in Glen Ellyn. Borchers reached the conclusion that Kearns died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

More Patch coverage: Boshears Too Tall To Shoot Katie Kearns: Retired Detective Testifies