Arrest Made In Cold Case Involving Deceased Greendale Woman

WAUKEGAN, IL — A former truck driver and suspected serial killer has been charged with the murder of 39-year-old Julie Konkol, a Greendale woman who was found dead behind an abandoned truck stop in Lake County more than two decades ago.

A joint investigation by state and federal agencies led to the issuance of an arrest warrant Wednesday for a man whose DNA has been linked to the killings of at least four women, according to a statement from the Lake County Sheriff's Office.

Samuel William Legg III, 52, of Chandler, Arizona, has been held in Medina County Jail following his arrest on a 1997 sexual assault charge and subsequent indictment for the 1992 killing of another woman found dead at a truck stop.

Konkol's body was found on Oct. 23, 1997, by a construction worker behind the old Senter's truck stop at 43067 Old Route 41 in Russell, near the border with Wisconsin. An autopsy determined someone strangled her to death.

“This case has been a dark cloud hanging over Lake County for nearly 25 years," Lake County State's Attorney Mike Nerheim said. "But, through the gallant effort and tenacity of numerous law enforcement agencies and people involved, a murderer will finally answer for his crime."

Konkol was a Greendale resident who spent about the last two weeks of her life living in a van and working at various locations washing and waxing semi trucks, investigators said at the time.

The investigation into Konkol's killing was conducted by cold case unit of the sheriff's office, the FBI's Chicago office, Lake County prosecutors, the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigations and local authorities in Medina, Wood, Lorain and Mahoning counties in Ohio.

Legg will eventually face extradition to Lake County to face two counts of first-degree murder in Illinois. The bond on his arrest warrant was set at 10 percent of $3 million.

Original reporting by Jonah Meadows, Patch Staff