Katie Kearns' Drinking, Drug Use Left Her Friend Worried: Testimony

JOLIET, IL — During opening arguments, Joliet criminal defense attorney Chuck Bretz told the jury that the first-degree murder trial for Jeremy Boshears is not about "Jeremy falling for a girl or his web searches," but that's where the Will County State's Attorney's Office went with the case for several hours Thursday.

The prosecution team of Steven Platek, Dan Egan and Tom Bahar had someone read dozens of Google history searches from Boshears' cell phone in the days leading up to the disappearance and gunshot death of his new girlfriend, Katie Kearns, 24. The east side of Joliet bartender was last seen with Boshears inside the Joliet Outlaws clubhouse around 2 a.m. Nov. 13, 2017.

After determining the location of Kearns' cell phone, Will County detectives found her body a few days later about 60 miles away, at a farm owned by Ron and Georgia Keagle. The husband and wife have longstanding ties to the Joliet Outlaws.

Boshears drove Kearns' Jeep to their farm between 4:30 a.m. and 5 a.m. and they helped him push the Jeep inside their pole barn, according to their trial testimony.

On Thursday afternoon, a police officer read to the jury numerous Google searches retrieved from Boshears' phone.

Here's a rundown of some, but not all, of his Internet searches:

• "I really want my mistress."
• "Guy is married but thinks he found his soulmate in another woman."
• "A man wants emotional connection."
• "I found the one, but I'm married."
• "Gut feeling about someone being your soulmate."
• "When it just feels right with someone."
• "When is it time to leave a long term relationship."
• "I just want to be happy."
• "When a man knows it's better to leave."
• "Finally found someone who gets it."
• "Meeting the right person."
• "Instant connection with someone you just met."
• "When you just met someone to talk to."
• "Follow your heart."
• "When everything you ever wanted falls in your lap."
• "I finally found you."
• "When everything just feels right."
• "Finally someone gets it."
• "When you just know that's the one."
• "Completely satisfied."
• "When a man wants to wife you."
• "Find someone that completes you."
• "When a man commits to a woman he is loyal."
• "I finally found someone."
• "I hate saying bye."

The jury learned one of the last Google searches Boshears performed, on Nov. 11, 2017, stated, "When you found your soulmate."

The jury also heard that after Kearns disappeared, Boshears read the article in the Joliet Patch from Nov. 15, 2017, headlined, "Joliet Bartender Katie Kearns Is Missing, Friends Say."

Angela Burnett was another witness to testify Thursday afternoon for the prosecution.

"She was one of my closest friends," Burnett said of Kearns.

The two young women worked at Caffe Milan in Frankfort.

Burnett became curious after learning about the new boyfriend for Kearns.

"I just wanted to know what he looked like and how she met him," Burnett told jurors. "I have never met him."

"You never got a picture?" Platek asked.

"Never," Burnett replied.

Burnett was asked about the text messages she got from Kearns about Boshears. In 2017, he was a married 32-year-old from Coal City and a patched member of the Joliet Outlaws motorcycle club.

"She was excited," Burnett testified. "He had told her that he loved her. I know there was excitement in the text ... She seemed she was in a pretty good place."

On cross-examination from Bretz, Burnett talked about her concerns with Kearns' use of drugs and alcohol, as well as Kearns' mental health.

When Kearns went out to the bars, Burnett often urged her "to send me a text, so I knew she made it home."

"So you did have concerns about her drug and alcohol use?" Bretz asked.

"Yes," Burnett agreed.

"I don't drink, and I don't use drugs," Burnett told Bretz.

The autopsy showed Kearns was nearly three times the legal limit to be considered drunk in Illinois. She also had several prescriptions, Xanax and cocaine in her system.

"I know she liked to drink, and she liked to smoke marijuana," Burnett testified.

What about Kearns' use of cocaine? Bretz asked.

"I knew she had dabbled in it here and there," Burnett answered. "It was like a recreational thing."

The close friend also knew about Kearns' mental health struggles, including acts of self-harm. According to testimony, Kearns showed her friend bandages on one of her arms.

"So this is something she had a history of?" Bretz asked.

"I believe so," Burnett replied.

Bretz insists Boshears is innocent, and that Kearns died of a self-inflicted gunshot to her head inside the Joliet Outlaws clubhouse.

Because one of the jurors had a medical appointment already scheduled, there will be no trial testimony Friday. Prosecutors are expected to finish calling their final witnesses Monday.

With the jury dismissed for the day, Will County Judge Dave Carlson will discuss more of the trial and legal matters with the attorneys on Friday morning.

The judge rejected Bretz's motion calling for a mistrial.

Platek, the prosecutor, inadvertently showed the jury a portion of Boshears' videotaped interview with two Will County detectives where Boshears talked about his uncle taking his own life.

That portion of the video interview was supposed to be edited so the jury wouldn't see it, but the prosecutors messed up, leaving Carlson quite angry.