special place in hell for these scumbags:
(from the Bloomington Pantagraph)
MAROA — Police arrested two 21-year-old men on charges of first-degree murder and aggravated robbery for allegedly stabbing, torturing and bludgeoning 23-year-old Justin E. Mentzer as part of a murder plot hatched to obtain his PlayStation game systems and laptop computer.
Douglas W. Taylor and Terris Warnsley, both of Maroa, were arrested about 10 p.m. Monday after an intensive investigation that involved about 20 detectives from several police agencies.
Taylor delivered a detailed confession to police after investigators found evidence linking him to the crimes.
Mentzer, an acquaintance of the accused killers, was found by his wife unresponsive and “bleeding from his neck and everywhere” in his Maroa mobile home at 7:35 a.m. Monday, according to an affidavit by Macon County sheriff’s detective Kris Thompson. He was pronounced dead 50 minutes later.
Taylor is being held in the Macon County Jail on a $10 million bond. Warnsley is being held without bond, pending his bond hearing in circuit court Thursday.
Sheriff Thomas Schneider said the crime is especially shocking, considering the street value of the stolen items.
“You’re looking at two people who have lost their lives and cost a life, all for mere pennies,” Schneider said.
The victim’s wife told a 911 dispatcher Monday morning that when she returned home from work, she found Mentzer on their couch with his teeth knocked out and blood all over. She said Mentzer had told her during a text message conversation early that morning that “he had been involved in an altercation and lost,” but that he was OK, according to the affidavit.
However, he was unresponsive by the time she arrived home. When Maroa police arrived a short time later, he was deceased.
A suspect later admitted that he conducted the text message conversation with her from her husband’s stolen cellphone, hoping that would help him escape detection.
Shortly after the victim was discovered, Maroa Police Chief Brad Wilkey requested assistance with the investigation from the sheriff’s office and Illinois State Police.
Investigators discovered that Mentzer was last seen alive by Taylor and Warnsley. A Maroa police officer had made contact with the three men in response to a call shortly before 10 p.m. Sunday to the Maple Tree Mobile Home Park. The Mentzer home is in the park in the 200 block of East Washington Street.
When Taylor was initially interviewed after the homicide, he told police that he and Warnsley had last seen Mentzer at 10:30 p.m. Sunday, and had no contact with him after that.
Police then executed a search warrant at Taylor’s home in the 300 block of North Oak Street, about two blocks from Mentzer’s home.
“Crime scene investigators located a pair of boots and a black jacket in Douglas’ bedroom,” Thompson wrote in the affidavit. “Both items tested positive for human blood.”
After Taylor was confronted with this evidence, his story changed. He admitted that he and Warnsley returned to Mentzer’s trailer about 11 p.m.
“Douglas advised me that he and Terris had been planning to murder and rob Justin for approximately three weeks,” Thompson wrote.
Taylor said he left his home armed with a knife, while Warnsley carried a hammer.
The duo had developed a special code to signal when the killing should begin.
“They were going to attack Justin when Terris coughed three times,” Taylor told the detective.
When Warnsley coughed, Taylor struck the victim with his elbows in the head and face.
“Douglas advised me that he then knocked Justin onto the floor and began stabbing him with the knife he brought,” Thompson wrote. “Douglas stated that Terris repeatedly struck Justin in the head with a hammer.”
Taylor told police that Warnsley brought a backpack to the victim’s home, “and their plan was to steal Justin’s PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita and his laptop computer.” He and Warnsley already had a buyer in Decatur lined up for all the items.
Taylor and Warnsley repeatedly stabbed and stomped on the victim, Taylor told police. Taylor said he stomped on Mentzer several times to force him to reveal the passwords to his laptop and a PlayStation and the location of a key to his safe.
With the victim still not dead, the savage attack continued.
“Douglas stated that when he and Terris left the residence, Justin was lying on the living room floor still gasping,” Thompson wrote.
Taylor told police that he and Warnsley used Mentzer’s cellphone to “carry on a conversation with Justin’s wife via text message.” They believed that would cause the police to “focus on someone else.”
Justin Mentzer died as a result of multiple blunt and sharp force injuries to his head, neck and torso, according to preliminary results from an autopsy conducted Tuesday at the McLean County coroner’s morgue.
Illinois State Police Lt. Tad Williams, the lead investigator in the case, commended the Macon County Sheriff’s Office and Maroa Police Department.
“The combined efforts of all officers assigned to this investigative team were invaluable in bringing a quick resolution to the case,” Williams said.
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