Thirteen people displaced by Oct. 28 fire

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LOCAL NEWS

Thir teen displaced by Oct. 29 fire in Fulton

BY SARAH FORD For Shaw Media

Thirteen people were displaced by an early morning fire at a three-story apartment building while a firefighter and police officer received non-life threatening injuries during the response on Friday, Oct. 29.

Fulton Deputy Chief Ted James said the call came in at 12:04 a.m. with reports of heavy fire coming out of the windows in the northeast part of the building at 409 9th Ave. When crews first arrived, fire and heavy smoke was “venting out” with reports of people still inside. First responders on the scene knocked on doors and helped everyone get out – at first there were five residents unaccounted for, but soon all had escaped.

Fulton Fire called in the Clinton Fire Department for automatic mutual aid, and they arrived within minutes to help with the plan of action. James said the smoke was rolling and blackening out the street. A MABAS Box alarm was also sent, with responders from Albany, Thomson, and Morrison departments coming to the scene, along with Savanna EMTs to help man the Fulton fire station.

The fire was brought under control by 1:20 a.m., according to James. The State Fire Marshal was called to investigate, and ComEd and Alliant Energy were called to cut off the gas and electric. The Red Cross also responded to assist the residents, since most of them needed a place to stay.

James said the building is uninhabitable due to extensive smoke and water damage. Investigators know the location of where the fire started but the source is undetermined, with the investigation ongoing.

The two officers injured at the scene were transported to the hospital for smoke inhalation but were soon released after their exams and are doing fine.

James added that Fulton firefighters had just completed live fire training in Clinton on Thursday, Oct. 28, so they were ready to go when the call came in but were “spent” by the time the scene was cleared at 6:15 a.m.

According to property records, the building has 14 apartment units. It remains boarded up, with a dumpster and trailer seen in the parking lot over the weekend.

Sarah Ford for Shaw Media An early morning fire at an apartment building at 409 9th Ave. displaced 13 residents on Friday, Oct. 29.

ENTERTAINMENT

Fulton Thespians to present comedy this weekend

The Fulton Thespians will present Pat Cook’s two-act comedy, Those Crazy Ladies In The House On The Corner, on Nov. 12 and 13 at 7:30 p.m. in the west gym at Fulton High School. Tickets are $5 for adults and $3 for students.

The play concerns Dr. Lomax who has three geriatric sisters as patients, and all they want to do is to sit at home and talk, all at the same time. He moves his new nurse in with them because she also needed a place to live; she also has a secret. Soon the three ladies are planning parties, pulling pranks and jogging. Then a nephew shows up and announces that he plans to sell the house and have them move into a retirem e n t h o m e j u st a s Ch r i s t m as i s approaching.

This heart-warming play will delight the audience and help them forget their troubles and have an evening of great e n t e r t a i n m e n t , s a i d d i r e c t o r N e a l Luker.

T h e p l a y i s p r o d u c e d b y s p e c i a l arrangements with the Dramatic Publishing Co, of Woodstock, IL.

IN BRIEF

Volunteers needed for live nativity in Fulton

A live nativity scene is being organized as part of the annual Fulton Christmas Walk on Friday, Dec. 3 from 5 to 7:30 p.m. Volunteers are needed to portray the characters of the holy nativity. Each volunteer will be asked to take part in the scene for 30 minutes.

The location of the live nativity is the northeast lawn of the old Drives Building across the street from the de Immigrant windmill. Costumes, music, and background props will be provided.

Volunteers may be adults or youth, individuals, families, or groups. Participants of all ages have a wonderful opportunity to usher in the Christmas season sharing this message with the members of the community and visitors. Please contact Jude Holesinger 563-2496115 for more details.

CRIME

Morrison teen gets 20 years for shooting mom

BY KATHLEEN SCHULTZ kschultz@shawmedia.com

It was the summer of 2017, and Anna Schroeder and Rachel Helm were in love, intensely in love, the way only 15-year-olds can be.

The problem was, they didn’t think Anna’s mom, Peggy Schroeder, would approve of their relationship, which had turned sexual.

In sometimes steamy texts between the two girls, they discussed their situation. Killing Schroeder’s mom would solve their problem, they decided. Maybe poison her with bleach and drain cleaner. Maybe drug her and make it look like a suicide. Then they could just move into her house in Morrison.

That was the information revealed in text messages presented Wednesday, Nov. 3 in Whiteside County Court on the first day of the two-day sentencing hearing of 19-year-old convicted murderer Anna Schroeder.

In the end, Schroeder shot her mother in the head, point blank, that July 6, and the girls spent two days trying to clean up the crime scene. Failing that, they set the body and the house on fire, and left.

Helm told her mother what they’d done, and they went to the police.

Schroeder pleaded guilty on Jan. 8, 2020, to an amended charge of second-degree murder, for which she could have faced 4 to 20 years in prison. Two counts of first-degree murder, arson and concealment of a homicidal death were dismissed.

The hearing ran from 10:30 a.m. to noon on Nov. 3, when State’s Attorney Terry Costello called two witnesses.

Helm still is charged with arson and concealment of a homicidal death; her next hearing is Dec. 1 between her and her attorney, the state’s attorney and the judge, in which they will discuss her potential options. It is not open to the public.

Per her plea agreement, Schroeder will not be eligible for probation, or be able to appeal. Per statute, she can get day-for-day credit, and there will be year of supervised release when she is freed.

The bulk of Wednesday’s testimony came from Whiteside County Sheriff’s Lt. Dave Molina, the lead investigator. In answering Costello’s questions, he provided a reiteration of the events leading up to July 8, 2017, when the fire was reported and Peggy’s body was discovered.

Under questioning from Mertes, he also confirmed text messages between the two girls that began on June 14, 2017, and were sent up through the time Helm met Schroeder at her Morrison home, her mother’s body inside.

Helm texted things like “no offense, I hate that b----,” “if she’s dead, she can’t find out (about their relationship),” “can you kill her, I’ll help,” ”we can stay at your house after we kill her and get rid of the body,” and “she needs to die soon.”

If her mom was dead, they could have sex, she texted Schroeder.

S c h r o e d e r ’ s r e sp o n se s w e r e i n agreement, and at one point she texted “we can make it look like a suicide.” Other text excerpts included “I actually thought about killing my mom,” “I literally though about killing her fr (for real)” and “I could always burn my house down.”

In the end, Schroeder waited for her mom to come home from work, told her she had a surprise for her, asked her to put a towel over her face, then shot Peggy in the living room with her own gun.

She texted Helm what she had done, and when Helm didn’t believe her, texted her a photo of her mom’s body.

Helm had her mother drop her off at Schroeder’s and for the next two days the girls tried to clean the bloodsoaked carpet around Peggy’s body, made plans to run away, and went shopping for hair dye, food and cleaning supplies.

Finally, they dragged Peggy’s body to her bedroom and covered it with a sheet.

That July 8, Helm set the sheet on fire, and also set fire to a sheet in Schroeder’s room, and the two left, disposing of Peggy’s phone and gun in a nearby park and cemetery before calling their family members and getting rides, Helm to her home in Rock Falls, Schroeder to her dad’s house in Walnut.

O n c e a t h o m e , H e l m t o l d h e r mother, Lois Holland, what Schroeder had done, and Holland took her to Rock Falls police, then to the Whiteside County Sheriff’s Department, where she was interviewed.

Schroeder was arrested that night at the home of her father, Daryl Schroeder.

M e r t e s i s a t t e m p t i n g t o s h o w Helm’s role as an instigator of the c r i m e , w h i l e C o s t e l l o n ot ed t h at although there are other texts discussing what would happen if Peggy were to die, the first mention of actually killing her and burning the house down came from her daughter.

Calling it one of the most “egregious and despicable” cases she has dealt with in her nearly 40-year legal career, Whiteside County Circuit Court Judge Trish Sennoff on Friday, Nov. 5, sentenced 19-year-old Anna Schroeder to the maximum 20 years in prison for shooting her mother in the head 4 years ago.

Schroeder, in custody since her arrest in July 8, 2017, two days after the murder, was given credit for 4 years, 4 months served.

Reading from a short statement, a tearful Schroeder apologized to her family, especially to the sisters of her mother, Peggy Schroeder.

“The girl who killed her mother, that’s how people will always know me, and that’s how I deserve to be known, but my mom doesn’t deserve to be known as my victim,” she said.

“I didn’t think about what I was doing, I didn’t think about forever. I wish I could go back to when she was proud of me. I don’t want to be the reason she is gone, but I am, and I’m sorry.”

“This case is probably in the top tier of the most egregious and despicable ... situations I can recall in my almost 37 years in the law,” Senneff said when handing down the maximum sentence allowed for second-degree murder. “The callous disregard for the life of Peggy Schroeder ... is disgusting.”

Defense attorney Jim Mertes had sought 12 years, citing in part what he has called Helm’s instigation of the crime.

“Rachel Helm was certainly not the only reason Peggy Schroeder was murdered,” Mertes said. “She was, however, the horrible catalyst of a particularly horrible storm.” (Helm is in Whiteside County jail on arson and concealment charges; her next hearing is Dec. 1.)

State’s Attorney Terry Costello argued for the full 20.

“Every once in a while, a case comes along that shocks the conscience and deserves the highest penalty. This is that case,” Costello said.

Senneff noted, but gave little weight to, the defense’s emphasis on Helm’s influence on Schroeder, or to Schroeder’s youth or her lifelong treatment for mental Illness.

“What it boils down to is this: There is no evidence that Anna Schroeder did not know the difference between right and wrong.

“No one forced her to commit this act, she thought of a plan to kill her mother and burn down her house to cover it up, and she took the steps to put her plan into action.

“She chose to act in this evil manner, and then tried to get away with it.”

Alex T. Paschal/apaschal@shawmedia.com Anna Schroeder speaks with Christina Buskohl , one of her attorneys, during her sentencing hearing Nov. 3 in Whiteside County Court in Morrison. Schroeder, 19, was sentenced to 20 years for second-degree murder in the July 6, 2017 shooting death of her mother, Peggy Schroeder, 53. She will get credit for 4 years, 4 months served, as well as day-for-day credit.

PROPHETSTOWN

Grand Re-Opening for Jenna Scifres Handmade Jewelr y

BY SARAH FORD For Shaw Media

B u s i n e s s o w n e r J e n n a S c i f r e s McClelland of Jenna Scifres Handmade Jewelry had much to celebrate on Saturday, Nov. 6 with the official opening of her shop’s new location at 338 Washington St. in Prophetstown. The grand reopening featured light refreshments, sales and discounts, jewelry stamping demonstrations, and a ribbon-cutting with Prophetstown Proud.

Jenna was also celeb rating ten years of selling online, plus the oneyear anniversary of her first retail shop – which opened at 348 ½ Washington St. on Nov. 7, 2020 – plus the debut of the remodeled workshop and retail space at the former Girlfriendz boutique.

The expanded retail space features her simple yet classy designs of earrings, necklaces, bracelets, rings, and custom pieces, plus a workshop space where she’ll be holding jewelry making classes.

Her jewelry can be found in over 200 boutiques across the country and h a v e b e e n f e a t u r e d i n e i g h t T V shows.

Retail shopping hours are noon – 4 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, noon – 2 p.m. on Saturdays, or by appointment.

Sarah Ford for Shaw Media Jenna Scifres McClelland is pictured with her dog Cricket at the Grand Reopening of her shop at 339 Washington St. in Prophetstown on Saturday, Nov. 6.

HILLSDALE

Moore Memorial Library holiday f undraiser k icks of f

BY SARAH FORD For Shaw Media

The mini-Christmas trees are decorated and on display, along with a “cozy night” themed raffle basket, for the annual Moore Memorial Library Book Fund holiday fundraiser at Morton Community Bank.

The Christmas Tree contest and silent auction features 18 trees decorated by community members, with bids starting at $10. The trees can be viewed in the bank lobby, 230 Main St. Hillsdale, during normal business hours. Besides the auction, voting is underway for the best tree, with the winner to receive a $25 prize.

Tickets for the Christmas Basket raffle are available at the library, Hillsdale American Legion, Morton Community Bank, or from library board members. Tickets are $1 each or 6 for $5 and will also be sold at the Country Thyme Craft Show this weekend. The basket includes a Solo Stove, a load of firewood, lawn chairs, Fluffie blankets, family games, popcorn, smores, fire pit utensils, and other items perfect for a cozy night around a fire.

The raffle drawing and announcement of silent auction winners and the Christmas tree contest winner will be on Saturday, Dec. 4 at 10:30 a.m. at the library, with winners to be notified that day.

All proceeds from the fundraisers will help with the purchase of books and other materials. The library is located at 509 Main St. in Hillsdale, and hours are 8 a.m. – 3 p.m. Mondays and Wednesdays, and 8 a.m. – 2 p.m. on Thursdays.

Sarah Ford for Shaw Media Decorated Christmas trees for the Moore Memorial Library fundraiser are on display in the lobby at Morton Community Bank in Hillsdale.

ERIE

“Together We Share…Together We Care ” collecting g if ts for nursing homes

BY SARAH FORD For Shaw Media

For the 15th consecutive year, an Erie non-profit will be collecting items to distribute to nursing home residents during the holiday season. Kimberly Teats-Garrison, program founder of “Together We Share… Together We Care,” said volunteers have already started gathering for this year’s distribution.

“Many senior citizens are forgotten at the holiday season, but we can all change that again this year,” she said. Teats-Garrison and her team of volunteers will be bringing Christmas cheer to residents of Pleasant View (Morrison), Resthave (Morrison), Windsor Manor (Morrison), Allure (Prophetstown), Big Meadows (Savanna), and Regency Care (Sterling).

Items and monetary donations are b e i n g c o l l e c t e d f r o m n o w u n t i l December 5. All donations will then be delivered to the residents at their respective homes prior to Christmas.

The community is invited to help m a k e r e s i d e n t s o f l o ca l n u r s i n g homes’ holiday season a little brighter by donating any new items on this list: coloring books, activity books, crayons, markers, pens, pencils, all occasion greeting cards, paper, craft supplies, envelopes, stamps, puzzles, videos, DVDs, games, small trinkets, slippers, fuzzy socks, dolls, stuffed a n i m a l s , h a t s , g l o v e s , s c a r v e s , makeup, deodorant, baby powder, Kleenex, air fresheners, chap stick, toothbrushes, body wash, soap, shamp o o , c o n d i t i o n e r , n a i l p o l is h / remover, wet wipes, hand sanitizer, hair ties, combs, brushes, hair picks, sugar-free and regular candy, and microwavable popcorn.

Monetary donations are accepted to go towards purchasing these items, and a drop-off box will be located at Erie United Methodist Church. If you’d like to donate, contact Kimberly 309-781-4128 to arrange pick-up. F o l l o w “ T o g e t h e r W e S h a r e . . . Together We Care” on Facebook for more information.