Jonathan Hurst, a 56-year-old man, has been sentenced to life imprisonment for the brutal murder of an elderly woman and her son in their Illinois home. Hurst was found guilty in January for the double homicide of Patricia Wilson, 85, and her son, Robert Wilson, 64, which occurred in August 2016. Prosecutors revealed that Hurst had claimed to be hiking on an Illinois trail that spanned the state during the time of the murders. However, cellphone data placed him in Sycamore, the town where the Wilsons resided, approximately 65 miles west of Chicago.
Despite Hurst’s plea for a new trial, citing criticism of the evidence and the investigation, Circuit Court Judge Marcy Buick denied the request. Hurst was then sentenced to life for his convictions on four counts of first-degree murder, two for each victim, and an additional 30 years for home invasion. According to local news reports, Hurst will not be eligible for parole.
The murders took place in 2016, but it wasn’t until years later that DNA evidence led investigators to Hurst. Authorities believe the victims were attacked with a hammer-like weapon on the night of August 14, 2016. Patricia Wilson was discovered face down in the basement laundry room, partially inside a crawl space next to a washer and dryer. Robert Wilson was also brutally beaten and stabbed multiple times, and was found face up on the stairs.
Prosecutors found traces of Hurst’s DNA and fingerprints on items inside the Wilsons’ home, including a bathroom mirror and several soda cans. His DNA was also found on a pillow and two knives in the crawl space, which prosecutors referred to as a “secretive lair.” The bodies of the Wilsons were discovered on August 15, 2016, by Patricia Wilson’s daughter, Sue Saari, who had gone to the house to check on her mother and brother.
Surveillance footage showed the Wilsons’ car traveling east around 12:44 a.m., approximately five hours after Patricia Wilson last spoke to a relative over the phone. The car was later found abandoned in Chicago near the Lincoln Park Zoo, roughly a mile from where Hurst resided at the time.
Following his arrest in 2020, Hurst claimed that he had been planning a long hike at the time of the Wilsons’ deaths. However, he declined to testify at his own trial and remained silent during his sentencing, providing only one-word responses to the judge’s questions.
Family members of the victims expressed their grief at Hurst’s sentencing, describing the “emptiness and heartache” that has forever marred their lives. Hurst’s siblings, on the other hand, portrayed him as incapable of murder, and his defense lawyers pointed out that Hurst had no prior criminal record. DeKalb County State’s Attorney Riley Oncken expressed his pride in the prosecutors and law enforcement officers who worked tirelessly for four years to bring Hurst to justice.