Three things could happen in the LaSalle County Courthouse in Ottawa for 38-year old Donald Fredres, Jr. of Sandwich on Friday.
Despite a 12-member jury finding him guilty of murdering his ex-wife’s parents in their rural Sandwich-Sheridan home in March 2021, Fredres could request removal of the guilty verdicts and a new trial if his public defender Ryan Hamer can convince Judge H. Chris Ryan.
LaSalle County State’s Attorney Todd Martin told reporters after the trial about the sentencing hearing.
While state law requires a life prison sentence for multiple murders, the statute requires a sentencing court hearing. Fredres will not be eligible for parole.
Martin told reporters this:
Prior to the trial, Fredres had pleaded not guilty.
Fredres, who admitted to the shootings in a videotaped confession to law enforcement, was the subject of an eight-hour manhunt and community lock down in the village of Sheridan, where he also attempted to murder his ex-wife.
Following the trial in which the jury made its decision in under two hours, LaSalle State’s Attorney Martin had said no key moment or piece of evidence were the turning points in the four-day trial. He said the evidence was substantial and clear.
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