DECATUR — It was a heart attack that finally ended convicted Decatur killer Michael Slover Sr.’s 65-year prison sentence, a coroner has confirmed.
“The cause of death of this 75-year-old male Michael Slover Sr. was chronic ischemic hypertensive and cardiovascular disease,” Livingston County Coroner Danny Watson told the Herald & Review.
“He just died of your basic heart attack.”
Slover’s life ended June 24 while serving his sentence at the Pontiac Correctional Center, which falls under Watson’s jurisdiction. All deaths in custody are investigated by coroners under Illinois law.
Asked if there had been any signs of foul play, Watson replied: “None whatever, no.”
Slover received his sentence in Macon County Circuit Court in May of 2002 and had been due for parole in 2032. The patriarch of what turned out to be a family of murderers, he had been part of an elaborate scheme to shoot to death his former daughter-in-law, Karyn Hearn Slover, and dump her dismembered body in Lake Shelbyville.
Convicted along with Slover Sr. was his wife, Jeannette Slover, and their son and the victim’s ex-husband, Michael Slover Jr. Jeannette Slover, 74, is serving her 60 year sentence at the Decatur Correctional Center. Her 52-year-old son is imprisoned at the Illinois River Correctional Center and is serving 65 years like his father.
The mother is due for parole in 2029 and release in 2032 if she lives; her son has the same projected parole and release dates.
The murder case that led to their convictions started on the evening of Sept. 27, 1996, when 23-year-old Karyn Hearn Slover had left the former East William Street offices of the Herald & Review and was never seen again until her body was found several days later.
The victim, who worked in advertising for the newspaper, had been on her way to pick up her then 3-year-old son Kolten who was being babysat by her ex in-laws. Decatur police detectives would later figure out that the killer family had ambushed and shot her to death. The Slovers were determined, police said, to stop her taking their grandson out of state while she pursued a modeling opportunity.
Commenting on Slover Sr.’s death, Watson said it was typical of the heart disease associated with age and “low activity, things like that.” He also remarked that a lot of such disease is hereditary.
Watson said the murderer's body was released soon after the autopsy was completed and the coroner had signed a certificate allowing the remains to be cremated.
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Mike Slover Jr., left, and his father Michael Slover Sr., are escorted by Macon County law enforcement personnel as they leave the courtroom on May 17, 2002, after a jury found them guilty of first-degree murder. Jeannette Slover, wife of Mike Slover Sr. and mother of Mike Slover Jr., also was convicted in the death of Michael Slover Jr.'s 23-year-old ex-wife, Karyn Hearn Slover.