Prosecutors could call almost 50 witnesses during Wilson murder trial starting next week in Sycamore

SYCAMORE – Prosecutors anticipate calling nearly 50 witnesses beginning next week in the double murder trial of former Chicago man Jonathan Hurst, accused in the violent 2016 slayings of Sycamore elderly mother and son Patricia and Robert Wilson.

The trial could last until the end of January, possibly later depending on testimonies and cross examinations, assistant state’s attorney Scott Schwertley said.

That’s because prosecutors expect to call dozens in their case against Hurst, 55, charged with first-degree murder, home invasion and burglary, court records filed Wednesday show.

Jury selection begins at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday at the DeKalb County Courthouse in Sycamore. Circuit Court Judge Marcy Buick will preside. Assuming the jury’s selected in a day using what Buick earlier this month called “unique considerations,” the high-profile trial will convene at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday with opening statements, Schwertley said.

“And we believe our case will go until Tuesday or Wednesday of the following week,” he said.

Members of the Wilson family are among those local residents expected to testify: Patricia’s daughter Sue Saari and son-in-law Mike Saari, and her sisters Nancy Strever and Judy Olson, DeKalb County court records show.

Prosecutors have listed in total 48 witnesses they expect to call, records filed Wednesday show. Almost half are former or current police and sheriff’s deputies. Two paramedics from the Sycamore Fire Department are listed, six forensic experts from the Illinois State Police, a Cincinnati police detective, a medical doctor from the DeKalb County Coroner’s Office, an employee from the Chicago Transit Authority, an employee from a St. Charles Shell Gas station, and two employees from two separate Illinois traffic camera companies.

It’s been almost eight years for family and loved ones since Patricia A. Wilson, 85, and Robert J. Wilson, 64, were found beaten to death inside their home at 16058 Old State Road. Delays, the coronavirus pandemic and attorney changes have littered the past four years of pretrial hearings as prosecutors seek to prove to a 12-person jury that Hurst was the one responsible for the Wilson’s gruesome deaths.

“We never called this a cold case, we were never going to do that,” DeKalb County Sheriff Andy Sullivan said in February 2020 when authorities announced Hurst’s arrest. Sullivan was deputy sheriff at the time under now retired sheriff Roger Scott.

The police investigation took almost four years, spanned 15,000 working hours as police chased 1,300 leads, and gave court officials almost 11,000 pages of evidence and more than 180 disks containing hundreds of files on the case to review. Authorities did not hone in on a suspect until February 2020, when breakthrough DNA genealogy technology led them to Hurst, police have said.

Hurst pleaded not guilty and has denied ever being in Sycamore. Police and prosecutors have said they have evidence to show he was, according to court records.

As they built their case, prosecutors have alleged multiple DNA samples collected inside the Wilson home during the homicide crime investigation match Hurst’s. They’ve also alleged T-mobile cellphone tower geo-mapping data shows his cellphone was in the area that night. And Patricia Wilson’s missing car was found near where Hurst used to live in Chicago nine days after the killings, police have said.

Over the past year, after successfully getting the June 2024 trial delayed less than a month before it was set to begin, Hurst’s defense team also asked the judge to restricted or deny certain evidence from use at trial. They were unsuccessful.

Hurst’s defense intends to call a dozen witnesses of their own, records show. Many are the same listed by prosecutors, including some current and former police and sheriff’s deputies and a handful of forensic experts, and local residents.

Two of people named Hurst also are listed on the defense’s witness list filed Wednesday in court: Craig Hurst, of Indianapolis, Indiana, and Laura Hurst, of Texas.

Hurst initially faced 16 charges, including 12 counts of first-degree murder, and one count each of home invasion, residential burglary, criminal trespass to residence and possession of a stolen vehicle. Instead, prosecutors with the DeKalb County State’s Attorney’s Office have singled out five counts to argue in trial: four counts of first-degree murder and home invasion.

If convicted, Hurst – who has been held in DeKalb County Jail without bond since his arrest – faces a life prison sentence.

It’s not yet known if he will testify in his own defense.

Between witness testimonies and cross examinations, Schwertley said he anticipates the state’s arguments could last through Jan. 28 or 29.

Hurst’s lead defense attorney Chip Criswell, of the DeKalb County Public Defender’s Office, will begin his own arguments after. Depending on how long that lasts, closing statements could come by end of January, with a verdict then or even later.