Joliet Outlaws Slaying: Bretz Law On Offense For Jeremy Boshears

JOLIET, IL — On Nov. 18, 2017, the Will County Sheriff's Office booked Jeremy Boshears, a member of the Joliet Outlaws Motorcycle Club, into custody for the disappearance and death of 24-year-old Katie Kearns. The New Lenox Township resident was a part-time bartender at Woody's Bar on Joliet's industrial east side. Boshears has spent the past 17 months becoming accustomed to his new way of life in the Will County Jail as he awaits trial on charges of first-degree murder and concealment of a homicidal death.

Now, things are heating up for the defense. Last week's motion seeks permission from Will County Circuit Judge Amy Bertani-Tomczak to appoint an expert for the defense and provide funds from Will County to pay for that expert's help on the case.

There "is no eyewitness that directly implicates the defendant as the shooter, there is no confession by the defendant admitting to shooting the decedent, and no forensics indicating the defendant is the shooter. Within hours of being arrested, the defendant is recorded telling his wife that the victim killed herself," declares Joliet criminal defense lawyer Neil Patel of Chuck Bretz & Associates.

"The State's case is entirely circumstantial based in large part upon the premise that the defendant concealed the death and that a witness saw the two of them together before her death," the defense team said in last week's filing.

Last year, Joliet Patch reported that Chuck Bretz & Associates was aggressively investigating an alternative scenario. Bretz maintains that Katie Kearns may have fatally shot herself inside the Outlaws Clubhouse on Washington Street, and that afterward, people inside the club may have panicked.

A few days after she vanished leaving Woody's on a Sunday night, Will County Sheriff's Police found Kearns' lifeless body inside the back of the Jeep she had been driving. The grim discovery was made about 60 miles from the Joliet Outlaws Club, in a remote section of Kankakee County.

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Last week's defense motion informs the judge that Kearns died of a gunshot wound to her head and the entrance wound was on the right side, 2.4 inches beneath the top of the head, 3.6 inches to the right of the anterior midline.

"The wound is a lacerated contact wound," the defense lawyers wrote. "Soot and searing are present on the margins of the entrance wound. At the 6 o'clock position of the wound is a muzzle imprint. The injury can be also described as an entrance wound in front of the right ear with an exit wound near the left temple going from right to left."

The Bretz law firm's filing explains how Will County Sheriff's Police suspected the bullet wound to Kearns' head occurred inside the Joliet Outlaws clubhouse, and deputies were correct.

"After further investigation, they located a hole consistent with the size of a bullet in the ceiling. They entered the ceiling area/attic and found a bullet ricochet mark on a roof rafter. A search revealed a spent bullet among the ceiling rafters and insulation," Bretz law noted.

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Bretz concedes the "forensic testing of the bullet shows a DNA profile that cannot exclude the decedent." On the other hand, toxicology screens for Katie Kearns "showed a variety of controlled substances and alcohol in her system. The results showed a Blood Alcohol Concentration of 0.212. The results also showed positive results for Xanax, oxcarbazepine, Citalopram, cocaine and cocaine metabolites.

"The decedent had in her possession prescription medication and other controlled substances where there does not appear to be any prescription," the lawyers for Boshears informed the judge.

What was the 24-year-old woman's state of mind three weeks prior to her death?

Medical records from Silver Cross Hospital establish that Katie Kearns "went to the emergency room for a laceration on her wrist. The injury required no stitches or other advanced care. The injury would likely be described as superficial. There were concerns regarding her mental health and suicide prevention," Bretz found.

In the month leading up to her death, last week's motion points out, Katie Kearns "had difficulty coping with her mother's death due to a drug overdose. Struggled with high anxiety levels, depression and mood swings. Was the victim of a crime - her car with her medications were stolen - and sought a refill, after not having the meds for almost 10 days, just days before her death."

Moreover, Kearns "had a history of self-harm cutting which was starting up again. Engaged in reckless behavior when drinking. Most likely did not disclose the hospital trip to the treatment provider, as no written record of the visit appears in the records."

"Based on all the above, a good-faith argument exists that the decedent took her own life, either accidentally or purposefully, by raising a gun to her head and angled her head towards the gun, which allowed the bullet to enter the ceiling," according to attorney Patel.

As it stands, Judge Bertani-Tomczak will have to decide whether to allow Bretz law to hire John Louis Larsen and Arthur Brochers of Larsen Forensics and Associates "and require Will County to pay for the forensic experts research and investigations.

"Larsen Forensics also has on staff a forensic pathologist who would review the evidence to opine if the gunshot would appear to be self-inflicted or not," the court filing reflects.

"The defendant is of very limited means. He has no assets or other savings and is indigent. His wife has the burden of managing the household and has one child. They sold many of their possessions to retain defense counsel in this matter."

The question of whether to let Chuck Bretz & Associates retain county-funded experts will be taken up next week, on May 2, inside Courtroom 404.

Boshears remains incarcerated at Will County's Jail on a $10 million bail.