Judge hears arguments for and against moving murder trial out of Ogle County

OREGON — An Ogle County judge will render a decision in April on whether to grant a defense motion to move a 2016 murder/arson jury trial out of the county.

Judge John “Ben” Roe told attorneys he would review written motions and oral arguments they made Thursday, Feb. 27, and announce his decision April 23.

Duane Meyer, 42, of Stillman Valley, is charged with four counts of first-degree murder, two counts of aggravated arson and one count of concealment of a homicidal death in connection with an Oct. 19, 2016, Byron house fire in which Meyer’s ex-wife, Margaret “Maggie” (Rosko) Meyer, 31, was found dead.

The couple’s 3-year-old son, Amos Meyer, who also was home at the time of the fire, was later pronounced dead at a Rockford hospital.

Meyer has pleaded not guilty to all of the charges and has been held in the Ogle County Jail since his arrest on Oct. 9, 2019.

Meyer’s attorney, Christopher DeRango of Rockford, filed the motion in January to move the trial out of Ogle County, just three weeks before the jury trial was scheduled to start Feb. 3 and expected to take the entire month.

In his “change of place of trial,” motion, DeRango argues that because of “heavy” media coverage of Meyer’s numerous pretrial hearings since 2016, Meyer “cannot obtain a fair trial in Ogle County, Illinois.” He has also claimed that derogatory comments on social media pages about his client are also prejudicial.

A change of venue motion typically asks the judge to move the trial to a different location. Those motions usually cite reasons that the filing party believes would prevent a fair trial in the county in which the case was filed. Pretrial publicity often is listed as a reason for a change of venue motion.

A change of venue survey is one of the tools that can be used by defense attorneys before filing a motion for a change of venue.

DeRango said a survey, paid for by Meyer’s parents, asked Ogle County residents from December 2024 through January 2025 about the case. In that survey, DeRango said 34% of respondents recalled the fire and 59% had preformed an opinion regarding the defendant’s guilt. He did not say how many people responded to the survey.

On Thursday, Ogle County State’s Attorney Michael Rock and his assistants replied to the defense motion, calling the survey “flawed” and arguing that the trial should stay in Ogle County.

“The survey shows that this defendant will absolutely receive a fair trial,” Assistant State’s Attorney Allison Huntley argued.

Huntley said just because someone is aware of a pending case does not mean they have formed an opinion as to innocence or guilt. She said the pretrial publicity was primarily updates about the case as it moves through the court system.

And, she argued, potential jurors could be eliminated during voir dire - the Latin phrase meaning “to speak the truth” – used to describe the process where potential jurors are asked questions by attorneys and the judge before being selected to serve as jurors.

“There is no evidence that the pretrial publicity in the Meyer case is so pervasive and prejudiced that juror responses to voir dire questions concerning potential bias are unreliable,” the state’s motion reads.

The state’s motion goes on to cite reasons in detail – including “flawed methodology” – as to why the survey should be discounted and the trial should not be moved.

“Pretrial publicity is to be expected,” Huntley argued. “We expect our residents to know something about a case as interested citizens. Not everyone reads the newspaper, watches TV or engages in social media.”

She also questioned the “expert” status given to the survey company by DeRango. “Where are their credentials?,” she asked, noting only 184 residents had been questioned, less than 1% of the county’s total population.

At a December hearing, DeRango said the company conducting the survey had to “adjust their methods” because of Ogle County’s smaller population size.

“There is no reason to change the venue in this case,” Huntley argued.

DeRango disagreed, arguing that the results of the survey indicate “reasonable apprehension” that Meyer cannot get a fair trial in Ogle County.

“Reasonable apprehension exists,” DeRango said. “My client simply cannot get a fair trial in this county.”

Roe said he had reviewed written motions made by the defense and the state and would now review their oral arguments.

“I will have my response on April 23,” Roe said.

Maggie Meyer was a teacher at the Chana Education Center at the time of her death. She filed for divorce in 2014, and court records show the divorce was finalized in September 2016.

Prosecutors have argued that their evidence will show Duane Meyer planned to end Maggie’s life.

In previous hearings, DeRango and prosecutors have said numerous cellphone records and data will be part of the evidence presented.

DeRango has argued that text messages sent by Duane Meyer before the deaths were only part of a “contentious” divorce and not indicative of anything nefarious. Prosecutors disagree.

Roe remanded Meyer to the Ogle County Jail. The next motion hearing is set for 3 p.m. April 23.