Mary Oglesby is facing first-degree murder charges for allegedly poisoning and hiding the body of former Maquon police chief Richard Young. The charges were reinstated by the Fourth District Illinois Appellate Court. A pretrial hearing is scheduled for January 8, 2024. WQAD Digital Team reported
Mary Oglesby has been accused of poisoning Richard Young, the former police chief of Maquon, Illinois, and hiding his body in a storage container. This shocking crime has captured the attention of the community and has now led to the reinstatement of first-degree murder charges against Oglesby.
The Fourth District Illinois Appellate Court made the decision to reinstate the charges on Tuesday, November 7. In addition to first-degree murder, Oglesby is also facing charges of attempted first-degree murder and aggravated battery. The allegations state that she killed Young and concealed his body in a storage unit located in Maquon.
Initially, Oglesby was only charged with concealment of a nonhomicidal death. However, the Illinois State Attorney’s Office decided to add murder and battery charges in February 2023. Unfortunately, these charges were dismissed the following month due to a technicality, as Oglesby’s defense argued that the prosecution was not brought within the required 120-day timeframe. However, the State Attorney’s Office appealed this decision and eventually succeeded in having the charges reinstated.
The recent court ruling determined that the murder charge and concealment of a death charges did not need to be filed at the same time, as they were not part of the same act. This ruling has paved the way for the upcoming pretrial hearing scheduled for January 8, 2024.
The investigation into this gruesome crime began on October 7, 2022, when Knox County deputies responded to complaints of a suspicious smell emanating from the Maquon storage unit rented by Oglesby. After contacting the facility’s manager and Oglesby herself, the deputies conducted a search. Oglesby initially claimed that the smell was caused by a dead opossum in the unit. However, when the police encountered a large box that she refused to open, Oglesby confessed that there was a body inside. She was immediately taken into custody and charged with concealment of death.
Subsequent investigations revealed that the body found in the storage unit was that of Richard Young, the former Maquon police chief. The shocking discovery brought a sense of horror and disbelief to the community, as Young was a well-known and respected figure.
This case has generated significant media attention, with people eagerly awaiting the upcoming pretrial hearing to learn more about the circumstances surrounding Young’s death and the evidence against Oglesby. The community is still grappling with the shock and grief caused by this disturbing crime, as they try to make sense of how someone could allegedly commit such a heinous act..