Joliet Killer Waited 5 Days To Move Body To Cemetery: Prosecutors

JOLIET, IL — After fatally stabbing his 53-year-old uncle Timothy Bokholdt on Nov. 17, Anthony "Tony" Harames waited five days before bringing his victim's body to a wooded area at the Woodlawn Cemetery, Will County prosecutors outlined.

Harames "knowingly concealed the death of ... Timothy Bokholdt with knowledge that Timothy Bokholdt died by homicidal means in that he moved Timothy Bokholdt's body from 906 Natoma Court, Joliet, and put Timothy Bokholdt's body in a wooded area of Joliet," the criminal complaint stated.

According to his first-degree murder charges, Harames intended to kill or do great bodily harm to his uncle, and he cut Timothy Bokholdt with a knife, causing his death on Nov. 17.

Joliet police said the deadly stabbing happened inside Bokholdt's house in the 900 block of Natoma Court, in the College Park subdivision off Houbolt Road.

Will County Judge Fred Harvey has set bail at $5 million for Harames, who has a face tattoo on his forehead of a Maserati logo, his first-degree murder arrest warrant noted.

If convicted, the Joliet man may spend the next several decades behind the prison walls at an Illinois Department of Corrections facility. The arrest warrant listed Harames' most recent address as the 300 block of Stuart Road in Lockport. He was unemployed.

Harames has been arrested and convicted of several crimes against his relatives, as well as having an order of protection taken out by family, a review of Will County court records reflects.

Ten years ago, in 2011, his mother asked Will County's judges for an order of protection to keep her son away. The petition was granted.

"My son came to my house yelling and screaming at me," Harames' mother wrote. "He hit me and slapped on my face. Chased me out to my car and punched my car. The other tenant witnessed this incident and called the police and left for work. My son left before the police arrived."

In her 2011 protection order petition, Harames' mother stated that, "My son hit my head with his closed fist two weeks ago. I feel afraid of my son, and I need this order of protection for own safety. He calls me names such as 'stupid,' 'bitch,' etc. He is also mentally abusive to me."

Last Wednesday, Harames surrendered to Joliet police following a six-hour standoff inside the house owned by his then-missing uncle.

On Thursday, Harames led Joliet police detectives to a wooded area at the Woodlawn Cemetery where he had dumped the body of his 53-year-old slain uncle Timothy Bokholdt, according to Friday's criminal complaint by Will County State's Attorney Jim Glasgow.

Harames, now 31, cut his uncle with a knife, causing Bokholdt's death, court documents show. The homicide happened Nov. 17.

After the standoff ended peacefully, Joliet police initially arrested Harames at his uncle's house on a single domestic battery charge. He is accused of pushing a woman who is a family or household member, the criminal complaint states.

Harames has also been convicted of domestic battery in 2017 and 2018, prosecutors stated. Harames also has a 2011 felony conviction for unlawful possession of marijuana.

As an adolescent, the Joliet murder defendant changed his birth name from Anthony Bokholdt to Anthony Harames. He wanted to change from his mother's last name of Bokholdt to his father's last name of Harames, Will County court records show.

In April 2017, Joliet police arrested Harames for attacking his father, striking him "about the head," his criminal complaint outlined. In that same case, Harames was accused of striking the same woman involved in last week's incident on Natoma Court that led to the standoff.

In the 2017 case, Will County Judge Ed Burmila eventually sentenced Harames to 50 days in the Will County Jail and gave him credit for 20 days already served.

In 2018, Harames was arrested by the Will County Sheriff's Office, this time on three counts of domestic battery. He was accused of striking his mother about the head, grabbing her by the hair and striking a male relative about the head, according to court records.

As a result of the 2018 arrest, Harames pleaded guilty to one felony count of domestic battery, and the other charges were dismissed under the plea. He was put on two years of court probation, fined $600 and ordered released from custody after already serving 325 days in the Will County Jail.

In August 2020, the Will County sentencing judge ordered Harames to have no contact with one of his male Bukholdt family members, a person who was not the victim of last week's homicide, and no contact with his mother "subject to a motion to modify."

The judge also ordered Harames "to cooperate with his mental health provider and maintain in his system the prescribed medication at its therapeutic level."