Sycamore husband, wife found dead week after she filed for divorce

SYCAMORE – A Sycamore husband and wife were found shot to death outside their home on Maplewood Drive Friday morning and a gun was found on the man, police said. The wife had filed for divorce a week before, according to court records.

Kimberly Hurley, 56, and Robert Hurley, 58, were both found dead in the backyard of their home in the 200 block of Maplewood Drive shortly before 7 a.m. Friday, according to a news release from the Sycamore Police Department.

Sycamore Police Chief Jim Winters said Friday that authorities are investigating the shooting as domestic violence related. The couple had been married for 22 years as of Nov. 8, according to court records. They both were pronounced dead on the scene, and police believe the two were the only ones involved in the shooting, he said.

“We’re still piecing together the crime scene,” Winters said. “But we are investigating it as a domestic-related incident.”

Police responded at about 6:47 a.m. to a reported shooting in the neighborhood. Winters said multiple neighbors made calls to 911 reporting gunfire coming from the residence. Deputies from the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office also responded.

The Sycamore Police Department issued an alert on its Facebook page about 7:30 a.m. Friday that announced a heavy police presence along Maplewood Drive across from Sycamore Middle School. Police wrote they believed the incident was isolated and the public was not in danger. Winters said investigators remained at the home until about noon.

Winters said the gun found in Robert Hurley’s possession was a semi-automatic handgun that Robert, who had a FOID card, owned legally. He said the extent of the Hurleys’ injuries is still not known.

“There were multiple shots [fired] but again once we get back the autopsy results then we’ll confirm the amount each one of them was shot,” Winters said. “At this point, we believe that Robert was only shot once.”

No other people were home at the time of the shooting, police said. The couple share two adult children, according to court records.

Autopsy results are pending at the DeKalb County Coroner’s Office.

Kimberly Hurley had filed for divorce on Nov. 12, according to DeKalb County court records. She was represented by Riley Oncken, the incoming DeKalb County State’s Attorney, court records show. Oncken runs a private law firm in Sycamore.

In her petition for dissolution of marriage, Kimberly cited “irreconcilable differences have led to the irretrievable breakdown of the parties’ marriage.”

Winters said Robert Hurley was never arrested for domestic violence. A search of DeKalb County court records did not return any criminal results for the Hurleys.

According to the divorce petition, Robert and Kimberly were married on Nov. 8, 2002, in Bensenville.

Winters said as soon as police received the 911 calls, they alerted Sycamore School District 427 due to the proximity, about two blocks east, of Sycamore Middle School.

“Within minutes of the call, we had contact with the school district to let them know it was an isolated incident, not a threat to the public, and it should not interfere with normal school operations,” Winters said. “We know that area, there’s a lot of commuters getting kids, staff getting to the middle school. But it was not related.”

A police investigation remains ongoing. Those with information on the investigation or couple are asked to contact Sycamore police.

Sycamore police also released phone numbers Friday for local resources available to those in the community who may be facing domestic abuse or victims of domestic violence.

Safe Passage Inc., based in DeKalb, is a safe shelter for those in need and also connects clients, confidentially, to other resources such as housing and legal assistance. Safe Passage’s 24-hour confidential crisis hotline is 815-756-5228. People also can call the National Domestic Violence hotline 24/7 at 1-800-799-7233 or text “START” to 88788 for confidential support.

“I think there’s plenty of resources out there, and whether a person who’s involved in a domestic violence situation or if someone knows of someone involved in a domestic violence situation, they need to know that everybody deserves to be safe,” Winters said. “People are not alone in these types of situations. Please reach out and use those resources, or reach out to a friend who can help you connect to those resources.”

This story was updated at 6:55 p.m. Nov. 22, 2024, with more information from Sycamore Police Chief Jim Winters. Additional updates could occur.