U.S. Marshals Nab Suspect in Illinois Slaying
CHICAGO -- Robert C. Stagger, 51, a suspect in the stabbing death of 84-year-old Charles E. Hood, was arrested about noon Thursday in Chicago.
Stagger was located in Chicago by members of the U.S. Marshals Great Lakes Fugitive Task Force, said Lt. Cody Moore of the Decatur Police Department.
"It was an excellent job by the marshals task force," Moore said. "It took them less than 24 hours after beginning a search for the subject until they found him."
If he does not fight extradition, Stagger could be transported to Decatur by this morning.
Stagger is believed to be responsible for the death of Hood, who was found stabbed and bludgeoned in his home Nov. 19 in the 4200 block of East Marietta Street.
On Wednesday, police said they found sufficient evidence to implicate Stagger when they searched a residence in the 4200 block of East William Street. Stagger had previously lived in that home and remained in contact with a current resident.
Police sources said Stagger had been homeless recently and was known to beg for money on the streets in his neighborhood, just west of the William Street Bridge. His former residence is located about one block south of the victim's.
Stagger is a former Chicago resident with family members in that city.
He was most recently arrested Nov. 22 on a charge of criminal trespass to property for allegedly trespassing at St. Mary's Hospital after a security guard had ordered him to stay away, according to a court document.
He was booked into the Macon County Jail at 8:04 a.m. that day and released five and a half hours later, after a woman posted $1,000 cash bail for him. Stagger was scheduled to appear in court for his arraignment on that misdemeanor Dec. 27.
Moore said Stagger's arrest in Chicago was the result of information developed by local law enforcement officers, including Decatur police detective Lorne Sturdivant and Macon County sheriff's deputy Adam Walter, both members of the U.S. Marshals task force. Local officers worked closely with the Chicago branch of the task force to make the arrest.
Copyright 2011 - Herald & Review, Decatur, Ill.
McClatchy-Tribune News Service