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1. Trial of Roger Carroll underway 2. Local invents device for hunters' lifelong battle with ducks 3. Jerseyville moving foreward on State Street resurfacing 4. Jersey COunty Board hears concern over Connect America Fund
INDEX Opinion . . . . . . . . . . .A4 News . . . . .A2-3, A6, B5-7 Obituaries . . . . . . . . . . . . A5 Our Town . . . . . . . . . . . . . A5 School. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B8 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A7 Court. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B3 Public Notice. . .B3, C1-28 OBITUARIES: BLUMENBERG, CHAPMAN, MOORE, STEWARD. JERSEY COUNTY
JOURNAL
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MARCH 18, 2020
JOURNAL VOL. 18, NO. 12 - 75¢
Coronavirus prompts Roger Carroll found preventative measures guilty of murdering in the Jerseyville, county Statewide orders to strain local workers
Bonnie Woodward
By CONNOR ASHLOCK Jersey County Journal The City of Jerseyville plans on abiding by and enforcing the orders that Gov. J.B. Pritzker has temporarily enacted in the state. “As of 9 p.m. on March 16, all bars and restaurants can no longer serve patrons inside their establishments. Gaming will also be shut down by that time as well,” Chief Brad Blackorby of the Jerseyville Police Department Jarad Jarmon/Jersey County Journal stated. Election judge in Jersey County “As of right now, these laws are in thumbs through identification slips place through March 30.” Blackorby, along with Mayor Bill Tuesday with a hand sanitizer bottle Russell, understand the difficult situa- featured prominently on the table. tion this places business owners in the governor’s mandate while also supcommunity and is seeking to assist in porting local businesses. whatever capacity they may be able to. “The city government held an orga“We’re willing nizational meeting at to assist any busi8:30 a.m. on March ness if they need “We all have to 16. Unfortunately, help establishing a with schools closcurbside set-up or cooperate — as a ing and public gathif someone con- community — to erings postponed or tinues operating canceled, we’re shuttheir business via get through this. ting down the parks delivery or driveand recreation departthru. We want busi- People who work in ment through March nesses to know that the service industry 30. Bill paying will we encourage and be through drive up support them, even rely on tips and only, and we’re shutwith the temporary paychecks for their ting down city hall so restrictions on their that our city employnormal operations,” livelihood,” ees can still report to Blackorby stated. work but avoid less Mayor Russell contact with people,” Bill Russell echoed this stance. Russell said. Jerseyville Mayor “We all have “We’ll only continto cooperate–as a ue these restrictions if community–to get through this. People we’re told by state and health authoriwho work in the service industry rely ties that we need to,” Russell added. on tips and paychecks for their liveliAngie Laird, the administrative hood,” Russell said. assistant and records clerk of the “The city and the police department Jerseyville Police Department, was don’t want to see places shut down tasked with making the initial point of any longer than they have to be, but contact with Jerseyville businesses to distance is an important key to keep- inform them that per the mandate, they ing the virus out of Jersey County,” would be required to close at 9 p.m. on Blackorby added. March 16 and explained that the city Russell shared the steps that his will be working with them in figuradministration is taking to keep the ing out a plan for them to maintain virus at bay. Russell, along with Black- business in the form of curbside and orby and heads of the city departments delivery services. met to discuss how the city would proceed forward with following the (See, CORONAVIRUS, A3)
By JARAD JARMON Jersey County Journal After a three and a half hour deliberation, the jury in the Roger Carroll trial in Jersey County has come to a verdict: guilty. The jury found Carroll guilty of first degree murder Monday, March 16. The deliberations started following six days of opening statements, testimony and closing statements. The jury also found that the allegation that Carroll personally discharged a firearm that proximately caused death to another person was proven. Carroll was accused of and was charged in relation to luring Bonnie Woodward to his car outside of Eunice Smith Nursing Home in Alton on June 25, 2010. The prosecution asserted that he then took Woodward to his property in rural Jersey County and shot Woodward several times with a Stoeger Cougar 9mm pistol. Carroll was then said to have burned Woodward’s body over a series of several days. There was witnesses and expert testimony from numerous individuals during the trial including testimony from stand out witnesses like Nathan Carroll, Roger’s son. Later in the week, Monica Carroll, Roger’s wife who has notably filed for divorce, Wanda Bausley, who was said to see her before she was reported missing and Heather Woodward, Bonnie's step-daughter. The prosecution called Monica Carroll to stand later in the week questioning her on her relationship with Roger and on the return from a trip to Goreville, said to be the time Roger murdered Bonnie. Nathan testified earlier in the trial that him and Roger left early back to their home in Jerseyville where Roger shot Bonnie and the two burned her body in a fire pit. Monica testified that there was a very large brushfire when she returned — one that lasted days, consistent with information Nathan testified to earlier in the trial. She also testified to Roger scrapping up ashes from that pile and moving them.
ROGER CARROLL She was also questioned about a domestic incident on March 2, 2018, in which Monica said Roger grabbed her hair, jerking her around, hitting her in the neck and tazing her 10 to 12 times. During this altercation, Roger said, “I killed for you,” according to her testimony. During the cross examination, Attorney Scott Snider on behalf of the defense centered his questioning largely on her relationship with Roger and her cooperation and statements made around the time Bonnie was first listed as missing. During her testimony, Monica said she was aware of affairs Roger had had, and confirmed that she did not like her estranged husband. Monica also confirmed that she said, “I don’t think she is missing. She went into hiding to cause all of this,” to Alton Police during their investigations in 2010. Later, Heather Woodward was called to the stand where she noted that the Carrolls told her to not tell police she was staying with them. During cross examination, she also testified that everything seemed normal on her return from that trip to Goreville. When Wanda Bausley took the stand, she testified to seeing a man she later believed to be Roger Carroll next to Bonnie, on the last day she was seen. Bausley worked at Eunice Smith with Bonnie for 2 years. She said on June 25, 2010 when she was leaving, she saw a man and Bonnie at Bonnie’s large red truck. Bausley (See, CARROLL, A3)
Family well-being fair Gift Box opens in Jerseyville hosted by local antidrug organization By CONNOR ASHLOCK Jersey County Journal The Family Well-Being Fair/ Forum was hosted by Jersey County Against Drugs Coalition on the evening of March 12. The event was held in the secondary gym of Jersey Community High School. “This event focused on drug prevention, treatment and recovery, as well as shedding light on the positive resources for youth in the community,” Rita Robertson said. Robertson, who is the JCUSD drug prevention coordinator and educator, is the coalition leader who worked to organize the event. “I work with seventh and eighth grade students on how to avoid drugs when they’re offered, and I teach them about their effects,” she said. “Our brains are still developing until we’re 25, and so what we do before that age can have serious effects on longterm brain function. Students today need more than ‘just say no.’ They need to be informed on the ‘why’ aspect. They need to know what different drugs will do to them,” Robertson said. Robertson shared that this event is the first of its kind that the coalition has sponsored and the first one in the county, as far as she is aware. “Officer Rich Portwood and I were talking, and I said that I wanted to put on an event like this for our county. We got the ball rolling, got more people involved and talking, and
I realized that we’ve got prevention resources in this county that don’t get enough focus– the parks and recreation department, area youth groups, the library and so many more,” Robertson said. “We also wanted to get the word out there on what prevention can do for you and what treatment and recovery look like. So, we pooled all those resources together and got them in one location at one time. We wanted young people to know that there’s things for them to do out here in the community,” Robertson added. The event also offered a great opportunity for individuals in the different organizations that were present to network with one another over their mutual concern for adolescent safety. “These organizations care about keeping young people away from drugs, and so it was good that they were all able to come together in one location and talk with one another,” Robertson noted. “We also had a panel discussion on this community issue, with three high school students sitting on it. Those students were able to share their perspectives on the drug situation, what they’d like to see in the school and how the community can help them,” Robertson said. Robertson also discussed what she would like to see concerning the coalition’s future. “One thing that I’d like get is a funding source of some kind for the Jersey County Against Drugs (See, FAIR, A2)
By CONNOR ASHLOCK Jersey County Journal A new store has opened up in downtown Jerseyville that is already contributing its own uniqueness to the historic district. “The Gift Box has been open since 2011, and I purchased it about four years ago,” Marci Thomas, owner, said. “One day I was in the Alton store refiling my stock when the original owner asked me if I was interested in buying the store. After talking to my husband about it, we bought the store and ever since then we’ve been focusing on growing the business.” “We’ve been adding more vendors to our vendor family and we had to move from our original shop on Broadway up by the mall on Delmar.” Thomas, a native of Bethalto, never had a connection to the Jerseyville area until she started meeting customers and vendors in her store who were from the area. “Our vendors and customers were coming to us and begging us to come to the Jerseyville area. I’m not familiar with the area because I grew up in Bethalto, but our customers and vendors were saying ‘No, no, you’ve got to open up a store in Jerseyville’. We finally opened up here in Jerseyville on Feb. 28,” Thomas said. “I was very hesitant at first because opening a new store is a lot of work, but we’re pleasantly surprised. There are more vendors up this way than we were
Connor Ashlock/ Jersey County Journal
Marci Thomas, owner of The Gift Box, rummages through clothing at her new shop location in downtown Jerseyville.
expecting, and we are able to meet more people up here that we didn’t have access to in Alton.” Concerning those from the community who have already come into the store, Thomas said she couldn’t ask for nicer people. “Some ladies have come in here two or three times a day, and they’ll buy some items and call their girlfriends in the store and tell them that they need to meet them up here right away. Everyone is so sweet here and I just love it. I ask my husband ‘What have we stumbled into?’ We’ve come to learn that Jerseyville is an unseen treasure.” Visitors to the store will encounter a wide variety of items including boutique clothing in sizes ranging from newborn to 4x women, candles, jewelry, primitive crafts, handmade soaps, bows, landmark coasters, seasoning mixes, purses,
and a variety of other items as well. “We’re a compilation of vendors,” Thomas explained. “I split my time between Jerseyville and Alton. Some days I’m at the Alton store and I have other vendors taking care of the store here so whenever people come in they encounter someone they know.” Since Thomas is new to the area, she and her husband have made it a point to engage with the community as much as possible. “We’ve been venturing out and checking out the other local businesses. We feel very welcome here, and you guys have some fantastic food around here. We have not visited any restaurants in Jerseyville that we have not liked.” Thomas is also anticipating getting involved in the (See, BOX, A2)