A Pingree Grove man may have kidnapped and killed a man in revenge for a purported attack on a relative, a Kane County judge wrote in a letter we obtained from the case file.

Douglas Ottesen

Judge Julia Yetter made the note when she ordered that Douglas Ottesen, 60, remain in custody while awaiting trial for the killing of 57-year-old James Cromwell of Crystal Lake.

Authorities say Ottesen killed Cromwell on March 12, then stored the body for weeks in a Kane County barn. Cromwell was reported missing April 4, and his body was found May 7.

Ottesen is charged with first-degree murder, concealment of a homicidal death, aggravated kidnapping, aggravated unlawful use of a weapon by a felon and aggravated unlawful restraint.

According to Yetter’s handwritten order, prosecutors and police allege that Ottesen believed that Cromwell had held a relative against her will and raped her.

We reached out to Crystal Lake police about those allegations, but didn’t receive a reply.

According to Yetter’s order, Ottesen offered to drive Cromwell to a bus stop, but instead took him to a pole barn on Route 72 in Pingree Grove, computer data from Ottesen’s vehicle indicated. Ottesen had been renting the barn at the time, authorities say.

Cromwell later was found dead in the barn with a gunshot wound to the back of his head. According to a list of the exhibits, the victim’s body was covered in lime and placed in a large wooden box.

Lime has been used for centuries to preserve bodies, and reduces the smell of decomposition, according to a study presented to a conference of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences. It has also been used to cover bodies in mass graves, and by criminals to reduce the likelihood of a body being found, according to the study.

Court documents don’t indicate, and authorities have not disclosed, whether Ottesen and Cromwell knew one another prior to the killing.

Yetter cited the facts and circumstances of the case, and the “planning by defendant and execution and effort to avoid detection” as reasons for ordering him to remain behind bars while his case is pending. She also wrote that she considered his conviction for a 1995 residential burglary as indication he might not follow court-imposed restrictions if released.

Ottesen has been in the Kane County jail since his arrest May 7. He was scheduled to be arraigned Thursday, but was ill and was excused from attending court.

Time to own up?

Got some work-related skeletons in your closet, but worry that fessing up could mean potentially serious legal consequences?

Now’s your chance to come clean without the threat of arrest or prosecution.

Federal prosecutors are offering nonviolent criminals a chance to avoid prosecution, if they come forward and fess up, then agree to cooperate against possible accomplices.
AP

The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Chicago this week announced a pilot program that encourages people to step forward and admit to nonviolent offenses. The six-month program is geared toward those who have participated in or have knowledge of criminal wrongdoing by virtue of their employment, officials said.

Federal authorities say those who make “timely and meaningful” disclosures won’t be prosecuted, in exchange for their ongoing assistance.

“We are implementing this pilot program to provide a road map for how to report individual and organizational misconduct,” Morris Pasqual, the acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, said in Monday’s announcement. “We hope the program will enhance our effectiveness by incentivizing individuals and their counsel to provide us with actionable and timely information.”

The office will accept admissions on a preprinted intake form emailed to USAILN.WBP@usdoj.gov until March 15. Anonymous reporting is not allowed, and those already informed that they’re under investigation aren’t eligible.

The reporting individual also must agree to forfeit proceeds from criminal wrongdoing and pay full restitution to victims.

The program is not available to those whose crimes include violence, terrorism or any sex offense involving force, fraud, or coercion of a minor. Elected federal or foreign officials, federal law enforcement officers, and the highest-ranking person in an organization also can’t take part.

For more on the program, visit https://tinyurl.com/2h2wz2md.

Supremes pass on gun ruling

It’s established law that felons can be banned from owning a gun. But what about those charged with a felony and awaiting trial?

The Illinois Supreme Court essentially punted on that question Thursday, choosing instead to throw out a challenge on the basis that the plaintiffs didn’t have standing to sue.

Davis v. Yenchko stems from the case of two downstate men — Aaron and Charles Davis — charged in 2016 with reckless discharge of a firearm after neighbors complained they had been shooting guns in their yard.

As a result, Illinois State Police revoked their Firearm Owners Identification cards. When the pair pleaded guilty to misdemeanors a year later, state police restored their gun rights.

The pair sued nonetheless, arguing that ISP unlawfully denied them their rights before they had been convicted. A Madison County judge agreed last year, finding that it is unconstitutional to revoke a FOID based only on a charge, and ordered state police to halt the practice.

The Illinois Supreme Court took up the case, but rather than decide the substance of the issue, justices instead ruled that because the plaintiffs had their FOID cards returned before initiating the case, they had no standing to sue. It also means the downstate judge’s order to state police is reversed.

“In entering this disposition, we express no opinion on the merits of the parties’ other arguments,” Justice Mary K. O’Brien wrote in the decision.

Still waiting

While writing this week about the dispute between Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin and Kane County Sheriff Ron Hain over a fatal officer-involved shooting in May 2023, Susan checked into why Kane County State’s Attorney Jamie Mosser hasn’t decided whether the shooting was justified.

Kane County State’s Attorney Jamie Mosser

Why is it taking so long? It turns out Mosser has the final investigation report from the Kane County Major Crimes Task Force, but is having it reviewed by an outside consultant named Force Science.

Via her spokesman, Mosser said it was a “complex case with a lot of evidence,” and noted that task force members have to fit their work in around their regular jobs.

• Do you have a tip or a comment? Email us at copsandcrime@dailyherald.com.