Ottawa killer headed back to court

Ottawa killer William Horman is headed back to La Salle County Circuit Court to try to argue for a new murder trial.

Thursday, the Third District Appellate Court granted Horman minor relief. Based on some new information not available at trial, the justices ruled, Horman should at least have an opportunity to ask his trial judge to overturn his conviction.

Horman, 56, is serving 40 years for first-degree murder and concealment of a homicidal death. A jury convicted of him of bludgeoning Ottawa businessman Robert Dowd in 2015 and then cremating him in a burn pile.

The key witness against Horman was a one-time codefendant who cut a deal. Jonathan Beckman testified he witnessed the murder and then assisted at the cremation. In exchange for his testimony, Beckman plead to concealment of a homicidal death and took five years. (He completed that sentence but is incarcerated for a subsequent felony offense.)

Since then, however, Horman has procured an affidavit from a convicted felon who, while housed with Beckman, claims Beckman boasted of the “sweet deal” he negotiated and at least insinuated he wasn’t completely truthful or forthcoming on the stand.

“Beckman is lying for the state to get out of somethings he might or might not have done,” reads the affidavit by Cody L. Smith, who is serving a lengthy sentence for solicitation of murder for hire.

Was the affidavit from Smith enough for the appeals court to grant Horman a new trial? No. The appeals court has not remanded Horman’s case for a second trial, only the chance to argue for one – and the burden of proof is steep.

Court dates are pending, but Horman will eventually get a hearing before Chief Judge H. Chris Ryan Jr. to argue whether the affidavit throws the conviction in doubt.

The La Salle County State’s Attorney’s Office declined comment Friday, citing state Supreme Court rules that restrict comment on pending cases.