Bradley French guilty of murder, 2nd degree

Bradley French admitted killing Joshua Scaman in 2015 using a bow-and-arrow, but a jury decided it wasn’t premeditated murder.

Thursday, a La Salle County jury deliberated about three hours and convicted French, 30, of Varna, of second-degree murder. He faces 4 to 20 years in prison when he is sentenced in Oct. 19.

French wept after the verdict was read – he had hoped to be acquitted on the grounds of self defense – but he faces substantially less than if the jury opted for first-degree murder, as prosecutors sought.

Instead of 20 to 60 years in prison, French now faces the possibility (however unlikely) of getting probation and is eligible for day-for-day good time. With about eight years already served, he could complete his sentence in 2025 or sooner.

“Obviously, I’m disappointed. My assistants did an excellent job and put forth the evidence which we believe showed first-degree murder.”

—  La Salle County State's Attorney Joe Navarro

That also was a different result from that of 2016, when French first stood trial and his judge refused then to let him argue self defense. An appeals court reversed the conviction and ordered a do-over trial in which the jury was to decide whether it was murder or self defense.

“I’ve learned a long time ago not to be surprised at verdicts,” La Salle County State’s Attorney Joe Navarro said. “Obviously, I’m disappointed. My assistants did an excellent job and put forth the evidence which we believe showed first-degree murder.

“Although I accept the verdict, I don’t understand how it was arrived at.”

Peoria defense attorney Maureen Williams declined comment.

Jurors filed out of the courthouse without comment.

[ Day 1: Bow-and-arrow trial begins: Self defense or murder? ]

[ Day 2: French testifies he shot fatal arrow in self defense ]

French and his lawyer argued his intentions were noble. French and his mother had provided safe harbor to Scaman’s family. Scaman’s former fiancée, Amanda Milton, took the stand Thursday and described the danger they faced.

“Josh would get violent, he would get belligerent,” Milton said. “Most of our domestic issues were when he was drunk.”

Hours before Scaman’s death on June 21, 2015, Milton testified, she and Scaman were at a party that she left after Scaman grew increasingly belligerent. She and her loved ones took refuge at French’s home but Scaman repeatedly phoned demanding her whereabouts.

“I finally answered my phone and he started screaming at me, ‘You have 30 minutes to walk through this door,’” Scaman said, according to Milton’s testimony.

Then, French stepped in. French claimed his initial intent was to calm Scaman but, as things escalated, he wanted to confront Scaman face-to-face. They agreed to meet early June 21, 2015, at Illinois Valley Community College.

Warned Scaman was likely to show up armed, French said he took with him the compound bow and four arrows – “I didn’t know what I was going to do,” French testified – and fired only after Scaman lunged at him and dared him to fire.

“He told me I’d better have the [guts] to pull it,” French said in a taped interview. “He came running at me and that’s when I fired.”

During closing arguments Thursday, Williams argued “there was a rush to judgment” by investigators in concluding French committed murder rather than acted in self defense.

Williams pointed out the trajectory of the arrow suggested Scaman had lunged at French – consistent with French’s statement to police – and French fired only to fend off an imminent attack.

Williams termed Scaman an “abuser” with a criminal record. Prosecutors, she said, were too quick to diminish Scaman’s bad actions and intents.

“Was Mr. French really the initial aggressor, or was it Mr. Scaman?” William said. “The state cannot give one reason – not one – why he [Scaman] went out there other than to harm Mr. French.”

But Assistant La Salle County State’s Attorney Jeremiah Adams said French made a series of decisions that ensured there would be only one outcome.

“The defendant’s choices made it certain that Joshua Scaman would die,” Adams told jurors, adding later, “Make no mistake: this is a case of first-degree murder.”

French, he said, “inserted himself” in the domestic dispute, then “tried to bait” Scaman into coming to Varna and then redirected him to Oglesby, where French “shot him in cold blood.”

“You can’t bait someone into taking action against you and then claim self-defense,” Adams said. “The person who knocks over the first domino is responsible for every domino that falls.”

And assistant La Salle County state’s attorney Matt Kidder reminded jurors French lied to police after trying to dispose of the bow and arrows.

“He knew that what he did was wrong,” Kidder said. “That’s why he tried to cover it up. That’s why he hid the bow. That’s why he hid the arrows.”