Aurora Man Pleads Guilty -- Again -- In 2005 Kane County Murder

By Lorraine Swanson (Patch Staff)

Caption: Gareng P. Deng, 23, formerly of Aurora, receives 35-year sentence for murder he committed as a juvenile. | Kane County Sheriff’s Office

It was deja vu all over again for an Aurora man who pleaded guilty a second time for a murder he committed as a juvenile in the Halloween 2005 shooting death of an Aurora woman, the Kane County State’s Attorney announced.

Gareng P. Deng, 23, formerly of the 27000 block of Cross Creek Court in Aurora, entered a guilty plea on Friday before Associate Judge Thomas Stanfa. Deng was handed a 35-year sentence in the Illinois Department of Corrections, the same sentence he received when he pleaded guilty to the same crime in 2009.

Prosecutors said that Deng was 14 when killed 47-year-old Marilyn Bethell on Oct. 30, 2005. She was reported missing the next day from her DuPage County home in the 2500 block of Quail Court on the far north side of Aurora.

It would be two months before her decomposed body was found in a wooded area in unincorporated Kane County in the vicinity of Butterfield and Kirk roads in Batavia Township on Dec. 26, 2005.

Deng pleaded guilty May 8, 2009 to the same terms. Prosecutors said Deng pleaded guilty May 8, 2009 to the same terms. He later tried to withdraw the guilty plea but was rejected by a trial judge.

Deng appealed and won in June 2013, when theIllinois Appellate Court Second District gave him the opportunity to withdraw the guilty plea.

The case jointly prosecuted by Kane County Assistant State’s Attorney Jody Gleason and the DuPage County Assistant State’s Attorney Joe Ruggiero jointly prosecuted the case.

“Although this case was returned to us 20 months ago and although this is the same plea that was made six years ago,” Kane County State’s Attorney Joe McMahon said. “We’re grateful to Marilyn Bethel’s family for their support throughout this process.”

Based on Illinois law, Deng must serve 100 percent of the sentence. Deng receives credit for at least 2,907 days served in the Kane County jail and in prison since he was taken into custody March 23, 2007.