Killer Faces Life In Murder of Plainfield Sports Hall Of Famer Nate Fox

DUPAGE COUNTY, IL — It took a jury less than an hour to convict him, but a former tech CEO could spend the rest of his life behind bars for the ambush murder of former pro basketball player and Plainfield High School Athletic Hall of Famer Nate Fox. Despite claiming the gun he used to kill Fox was just a "prop" and that he didn't believe it was loaded, 54-year-old Jeff Keller was convicted Friday of first-degree murder in Fox's death.

Fox, who spent several years as a professional basketball player in Europe, was 37 when Keller shot him after he pulled into the driveway of his Bloomingdale home on Dec. 22, 2014. Prosecutors said Keller falsely believed Fox, who briefly worked with a woman Keller was "emotionally involved with," was a romantic rival.

Keller, a former Hinsdale resident, spent five hours testifying last week, admitting he brought a gun to Fox's house but said it was a "prop or bluff" in case his planned confrontation with Fox took a violent turn, according to the Chicago Tribune. Fox and Keller had never met before the fatal confrontation, and Keller claimed it was his "understanding" that the gun wasn't loaded, the Tribune reported. Although Fox briefly worked at an insurance company with a woman prosecutors said was having an emotional affair with Keller, the woman testified that she never saw Fox again after he left the company nearly a year and a half before the murder.

Earlier in the week, the woman testified that Keller texted her about a half-hour after — unbeknownst to her — he shot Fox, telling her he'd been in a "board meeting" and asking her how some Christmas cookies she'd baked turned out.

A college friend of Keller's who met with him weeks after the murder said he confessed to the crime during a visit to Texas. The friend called police, leading to Keller's arrest in January 2015.

Prosecutors called Keller "maniacally unhinged," saying he stalked Fox for more than a year before lying in wait outside Fox's Bloomingdale home. He shot Fox twice as he got out of his car, according to authorities.

Photo: Jeffrey Keller/DuPage County Sheriff's Office