Man Told Friend He Killed Plainfield Sports Hall Of Famer: Testimony

PLAINFIELD, IL — Minutes after gunning down a man he falsely believed to be his romantic rival, Jeffrey Keller calmly texted the object of his affection about cookies she'd planned to bake that night, telling her he'd been in a "board meeting" while he was really ambushing former pro basketball player Nate Fox, according to prosecutors and witness testimony in Keller's murder trial last week. Keller, 54, a former Hinsdale businessman, is accused of shooting Fox, 37, to death after he pulled into his driveway in Bloomingdale at around 9:30 p.m. Dec. 22, 2014. Keller's trial got under way last week.

Prosecutors allege that Keller falsely believed Fox, a Plainfield High School graduate and former pro basketball player in Europe, was involved with a woman he'd briefly worked with at an insurance company. The woman — described by prosecutors as being "emotionally involved" with Keller — took the stand last week, testifying that she never saw or spoke to Fox after he left the company in June 2013, and that she was "befuddled" and angry when Keller accused her of having an affair with him, according to the Chicago Tribune.

On the night of the killing, the woman testified that Keller texted her within 30 minutes of Fox's murder, saying he'd been in a "board meeting" and asking, "How are you," according to the Daily Herald. He then texted her asking how some Christmas cookies she'd told him she planned to bake had turned out, she testified.

As police searched for answers in Fox's death, Keller allegedly confessed to the killing over drinks and pizza at an old college friend's apartment, according to one witness' testimony. Dallas resident Steven Schweigert said Keller contacted him while on a business trip to Texas and the two reconnected — and Keller shared a shocking secret, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Schweigert said Keller asked him, "Have you ever been so mad at someone you just wanted to kill them?" When Schweigert said no, Keller confessed that he had, and the two men looked up a news article about Fox's death online. Schweigert said he contacted police after dropping Keller off at the airport the next day, the Tribune reported.

Keller, a former tech CEO, was arrested in January 2015 and charged with five counts of first-degree murder. He has been held without bond since his arrest, and his trial is slated to resume Tuesday in DuPage County.

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