One of our lead articles in the August-September issue of Disclosure has a familiar face on the front page…and the timing of what’s going on tomorrow in Mt. Vernon, Illinois, is eerie.
Jessica Evans
It was two years ago tomorrow—August 26, 2012—that Kristina Suprenant, mother of Jessica M. Evans, age 17, notified authorities that her daughter hadn’t reported to her sister for babysitting duties very early that morning. Authorities were advised that Evans had gone on an overnight camping/fishing trip with Jacob C. Wheeler, 22, in the Centerville area of White County, not far from the home where Wheeler had grown up.
Jacob Wheeler
What ensued was a massive manhunt by individuals and authorities that, over the course of the next several days, turned up the body of Evans and, ultimately, that of Wheeler, who was a military man and of whom many were suspicious in Evans’ death until his body was found the following Friday, Aug. 31.
But Wheeler’s body wasn’t found until one Danny K. Coston, then 36, was questioned by authorities after pieces of his distinctive truck were found in the area of the riverbend where Evans’ body was discovered. Coston admitted in a taped interview that he had killed the two young people. And the rest is what we are all painfully familiar with: A year-long ordeal of hearings, speculation and incrimination, which culminated in September 2013 with a sentencing of 53 years in DOC after a stipulated bench trial in August of that same year.
Now, there’s something Coston is trying to change about all of it, including the sentencing that his attorneys agreed to.
That is what will kick off tomorrow afternoon in the appeals court in Mt. Vernon, which we will cover here and in print.
In the meantime, here’s the Read the Lead for the front-page article about the appeal, Double-murderer has court setting for appellate argument.
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Danny K. Coston, in his most recent DOC mugshot
WHITE CO.—Two years to the day when missing persons reports were being filed for Jessica M. Evans and Jacob C. Wheeler, the man convicted of their murder is scheduled to appear in appeals court, seeking to have his case reconsidered.
Danny K. Coston, 38, who has been in the custody of Illinois Department of Corrections for the past year since his sentencing September 19, 2013, is on the docket for the appeals court case August 26. He may or may not appear in Mt. Vernon at Illinois Fifth Appellate District court, but his attorney on the case, John Rogers of Rosenblum Schwartz Rogers and Glass of St. Louis, will be there to tend to the matter.
What exactly Coston wants has yet to be determined.
However, the appeal has been on file since the day after sentencing last year, and regular entries on the Appellate Court’s docket show that Rogers has been working the case through the system since that time.
Coston was found guilty in a stipulated bench trial August 19, 2013, of one count of First Degree Murder in Evans’ deaths, a count of Second Degree Murder in Wheeler’s death, and a count of Criminal Sexual Assault in the rape of Evans prior…
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To read the rest of the article, click the headline link above the excerpt if you have an online membership to the e-Edition, and it’ll take you right to it. If you don’t have a membership, click this link to get started; it’s easy, inexpensive, and gets you ALL the e-Editions dating back to July 2012 for a limited time, as we’re working on archiving right now. Or, if you prefer to hold a paper in your hands, head on out to one of our many vendors, including, in White County, Carmi locations of Rock Bottom, Pundrake BP and East Side Package; in Norris City, Mimmo’s Pizza; in Enfield, One-Stop; and in Grayville, Shell Mart at the interstate and Grayville Liquor Barn!