Inmate Convicted In Bloody Joliet Attack Wants His Money Back

JOLIET, IL — Christopher George Gills, who is now serving a 28-year prison sentence at the Illinois Department of Corrections after pleading guilty to committing attempted first-degree murder in unincorporated Joliet, insists that the Will County Sheriff's Office has not returned his property back to him, four years after his arrest.

Gills, now 45 years old, was accused of sneaking into the home of a woman he had known on Meridian Drive, assaulting her and then shooting her twice. She was shot once in the face and once in the abdomen. The attacker wore a mask to conceal his identity, but Will County police say the attacker lost his ski mask inside the victim's house, during the struggle.

Forensics testing and laboratory test results determined the ski mask contained the DNA sample of Gills, the Will County Sheriff's Office announced in December 2017.

This past July, Gills pleaded guilty to attempted first-degree murder, and Will County Chief Judge Daniel Kennedy sentenced the Louisiana man to 28 years of imprisonment. Gills received credit for spending 1,311 days in custody at the Will County Jail.

The criminal complaint used for sentencing indicated Gills struck the woman in the head with a blunt object, intending to kill her.

In recent weeks, Gills has written the Will County Circuit Clerk's Office, asking that the Will County Sheriff's Office "release all personal property belonging to me that was confiscated in Houma, Louisiana, by detectives from the Will County Sheriff's Office on Dec. 7, 2017."

According to Gills' letter, Will County detectives seized the following items from him:

• More than $325 in cash
• large Stylo smartphone in a black case
• white smartwatch
• Keys on a Minnesota Vikings lanyard
• Louisiana driver's license
• Louisiana EBT card
• three or four debit cards

In his three-page letter to Will County court officials, Gills complained how his court appointed lawyer from the Will County Public Defender's Office did nothing to help him retrieve his belongings that were taken by Will County detectives during his arrest in Louisiana.

"I absolutely have no idea how the law works, nor do I have an attorney to represent me in this matter," Gills wrote. "I really can't understand exactly why it is so hard for me to get my personal property that was confiscated on Dec. 7, 2017 returned back to me.

"I have no open cases in the state of Illinois or anywhere else for that matter ... What I'm asking from the court is that my cash that was confiscated, over $325, be released and mailed to me here in Galesburg. I don't care about the other items that were confiscated because I was sentenced to 28 years in the IDOC and my money that I earned and worked for is supposedly being held somewhere on Laraway Road by the Will County Sheriff's Office. I really don't know what else to say except that your help in this matter will be greatly appreciated by me."

Related coverage: Will County Solves Meridian Drive Murder Attempt, Home Invasion