Katie Kearns Shot Herself At Joliet Outlaws Clubhouse: Expert

JOLIET, IL — With the first-degree murder trial of Coal City resident Jeremy Boshears only four months away, criminal defense lawyer Chuck Bretz has filed more court documents contending that Katie Kearns was not the victim of a homicide inside the Joliet Outlaws clubhouse. She took her own life by shooting herself, according to this week's detailed motion filed by Bretz.

Bretz submitted his written arguments in response to last month's efforts by the Will County State's Attorney's Office asking that a judge not allow Bretz's court-appointed expert witness to testify at the October jury trial.

Back on May 12, Joliet Patch reported that the Will County State's Attorney's Office filed a motion asking a judge to prevent Boshears from calling an expert witness with Larsen Forensic & Associates to testify. A retired police officer, forensic consultant Arthur Borchers is employed at the suburban Chicago firm, Larsen Forensic & Associates.

"The State's claim that such an opinion is speculative or based or is beyond Borchers' area of expertise is grossly misleading," Bretz argued in this week's filing. "The opinion is precisely consistent with the facts disclosed in this case as tendered by the State."

Bretz also stated in his motion: "the forensic pathologist in this case only found that the cause of death in this case was a gunshot wound. There was no coroner's inquest or other testimony in support of the homicide finding. The State's position in this matter almost stands for the proposition that but for an eyewitness or a suicide note, no gunshot wound can be shown to be self-inflicted through scientific evidence.

"One wonders if a suspect in a shooting death told law enforcement that the subject killed themselves and the subject had (a) contact wound to the head, what methods would be used to disprove such a statement."

Boshears, a member of the Joliet Outlaws motorcycle riding club, has remained in the Will County Jail since Nov. 18, 2017, charged with first-degree murder in the death of Kearns. According to prosecutors, she was his new girlfriend at the time of her gunshot death inside the Joliet Outlaws building in the Ingalls Park area.

In this week's response, Bretz wrote: "The State's motion is an extreme one. The history of this case clearly shows that this was a key part of the defense in this case. As a general principle, a defendant in a criminal case has a Constitutional right to present a defense."

Bretz also cited several instances why it's far more likely that Kearns killed herself at the Joliet Outlaws property almost four years ago:

• Within days of being arrested in connection with Kearns' death, Boshears told his wife that Kearns killed herself.
• The opinion that Kearns fatally shot herself is entirely consistent with the forensic pathology evidence in the case that this was a contact gunshot wound. The muzzle imprint is at the 6 o'clock position, meaning only the bottom part of the gun was placed upon her head with sufficient force to leave an imprint.
• The toxicology screen showed that Kearns was intoxicated and struggling with mental health issues and clearly in crisis at the hospital just three weeks earlier, getting suicidal prevention education.
• The Will County State's Attorney's Office retained its own expert, rather than to turn to the Illinois State Police or another police agency. Their expert, Matthew Nodel, cannot conclude if Kearns died as the result of a homicide or suicide. Nodel stated in one of his reports that, "The question in the reconstruction of this event is 'Who pulled the trigger approximately 1/2 inch to cause the gun to discharge.' Given the wound is at contact range, Kearns would have been able to reach and self-inflict the gunshot wound documented in this event. Equally plausible is that a second person including but not limited to someone of Boshears' stature could also reach and deliver the fatal shot.

"The fact that the State's own expert apparently has the ability to formulate an opinion that homicide and suicide are equally plausible answers to the question posed in this case should end any discussion as to the State's motion," Bretz argued. "The fact the experts have different opinions or that one feels they can make definite conclusions versus inconclusive is precisely why we have trials — let the evidence come out and let the trier of the fact decide."

The Will County jury trial for Boshears, now 36, is set to begin on Oct. 25.

Meanwhile, a pretrial hearing on the arguments surrounding the prosecution's objection to the defense expert witness are set for June 23 in Courtroom 404.

To read one of Joliet Patch's original stories surrounding the disappearance of Kearns, a bartender at Woody's Bar on East Washington Street, go here.