Joliet Outlaws Murder Case Involves 2nd Man: Lawyer

JOLIET, IL - During the early morning hours of Monday, Nov. 13, Katie Kearns died of a gunshot wound inside of the Joliet Outlaws Clubhouse, recently filed court documents establish. Was she murdered by a biker? Did she take her own life? And whose gun was used? And there are more questions.

How many people loaded up her dead body into the back of her 1996 Jeep Cherokee? Someone had to drive her Jeep with her body in the back. And someone else had to give that driver a lift home from Kankakee County, an hour's drive from the Outlaws clubhouse.

That means a second vehicle - and a second person - had culpability in the events surrounding the death of the 24-year-old bartender at Woody's Bar on Joliet's industrial east side.

But last November, the Will County Sheriff's Department only arrested one person. Jeremy Boshears, 32, of Coal City, a former Joliet resident, was initially charged with concealing a death. Days later, his criminal charges were upgraded to three counts of premeditated first-degree murder.

Now, five months later, Chuck Bretz & Associates has asked the court to determine whether Will County authorities cut a deal with a man named Colburn "Colby" Oneal, recently filed court documents show. (The filing by Bretz's office has the last name listed as O'Neil, however, other court documents filed months earlier in the case spell his last name Oneal.)

The recent filings by criminal defense attorney Neil Patel indicate Oneal fingered Boshears in connection with the Joliet bartender's death last November. At the time of her death, she was frequenting the Joliet Outlaws clubhouse after leaving Woody's Bar. Will County Sheriff's police have previously said that Boshears was affiliated with the Outlaws and that he recently began a romantic relationship with her.

Court documents filed by Patel indicate Kearns' blood alcohol concentration was 0.212 and her drug screen tested positive for cocaine, cocaine metabolites, Alprazolam (which is Xanax), Oxcarbazepine and Citalopram.

According to another noteworthy defense filing, the Will County Sheriff's Police interviewed Colby ONeal on Friday, November 17.

That was the day before Boshears was officially booked into the Will County jail where he remains in custody to this day, unable to make his $10 million bail.

"Colby made statements to the police regarding his activity on the night the victim likely died," Patel informed the court in recent filings. "These statements would tend to incriminate the defendant circumstantially, but are not direct evidence of guilt, such as an eyewitness account or the defendant's admissions."

The day after Boshears was booked into Will County on murder charges, ONeal sat down with Will County police for a second interview. This time, ONeal had an attorney present with him, Patel informed the court. (That attorney's name is not mentioned in the court filings, though.)

"A review of the reports suggests that Colby either minimized or lied to (Will County Sheriff's Police Department) in his initial statements and further implicated the defendant and himself as being involved with the actions to conceal and cover up with (the) victim's death," Patel stated in his court filings.

His client's case is assigned to Courtroom 404 in front of Judge Amy Bertani-Tomczak.

"Given the nature of Colby's statement, that he likely incriminated himself in this matter, but as of this pleading has not been charged with any offenses - such as obstruction of justice and concealment of a homicide," Patel noted. "As such there is likely an agreement to testify against the defendant along with some form of immunity grant."

According to Patel, a former criminal prosecutor himself, the Will County State's Attorney's Office "is obligated to tender any evidence regarding this agreement to the defense, as it goes to Colby's credibility and bias/motive to lie.

"They should not be allowed to wait until the 11th hour to address this issue and should be required to memorialize its intentions regarding any offers to Colby," Patel argued in court filings. "Simply treating him as an unindicted co-conspirator will not allow the trier of fact to understand what Colby is exposed to."

As a result, Chuck Bretz & Associates is seeking access from the court for "any material or correspondence which memorialize any agreements or offers made by the Will County Sheriff's Police Department or Will County State's Attorney's Office to Colby or his attorney."

That particular motion for additional discovery also notified the fourth-floor courthouse judge that the Bretz law firm has yet to receive access to several key items of evidence that may boost the defendant's case.

For instance, Patel noted, Colby ONeal was taken into custody at Will County on Nov. 24 for what appeared to be his third separate interview about the Woody's bartender's death.

"No such reports or other evidence has been tendered to show the contents of this interview," Patel stated in his filing.

"Any statements or recordings of this third interview must be tendered to the defense for review."

Additionally, Will County police inspected the ceiling inside the Outlaws' clubhouse where the fatal bullet was located, Patel stated.

"Photos were taken, however, they were not tendered as part of a defense subpoena. Such photos should be tendered to assist the defense in reviewing the crime scene," Patel informed the court.

The downtown law firm had issued a subpoena for all Will County police records. In turn, Patel received item 29, identified as Kankakee County coroners photos. "The evidence log sheet claims this was three discs held under this evidence number. Defense counsel only received one disc with 129 photos. Counsel wants to ensure that they received all discs."

Here are a few items the defense side remains in the dark about the scientific lab testing results.

• Gunshot residue testing of the victim
• Sexual assault kit from the victim
• Swab from steel door at the Joliet Outlaws' clubhouse with suspected blood on it. That door was seized by police as evidence.
• Swabs from a Springfield XD gun.

This "is the same caliber as the fired bullet collected at the alleged crime scene which essentially has the victim's blood on it," Patel notified the court.

Here's why Patel wants the court to order the prosecution and police to furnish the lab test results on these pieces of evidence in a swift manner.

"The results of forensic testing ... would be critical to the defendant's case, including being able to reconstruct the crime and support alternative theories regarding her death," Patel wrote.

Another Patch Exclusive: Boshears Told Wife Katie Kearns Shot Herself: Bretz Law Firm

Mugshot of Jeremy Boshears via Will County Sheriff's Department