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Statement from the sheriff:
I
will tell you today that very
early in this investigation that
we believed that the Gee family
knew their killers. We did not
believe this was a random act.
We are confident that we now
have those responsible for the
murders in custody. We believe
we know the motive, but we
cannot discuss the motive at
this time.
We
will continue to follow up on
every lead and we ask the public
to continue calling in any
information that you may have
regarding this case.
With the success demonstrated by
this investigation, this should
be a model for all law
enforcement in the future for
major case investigations. We in
law enforcement need to pool our
resources as we did in this case
to effectively investigate these
types of crimes. In this case
the Illinois State Police
provided a command structure,
seasoned homicide investigators,
analytical and forensic
support. Those resources coupled
with the Logan County Sheriff's
Department and the Lincoln
Police Department's working
knowledge and expertise in the
area led to the quick arrests in
the brutal homicide of the Gee
family. All of the officers
involved in this investigation
would like to thank the
community for your assistance
and support.
I
do not plan any future press
conferences as we are now moving
into the prosecutorial phase.
That does not change my caution
to the public to look out for
each other and your children. We
all need to take care of each
other.
The
sheriff then answered a few
questions.
Q. Why would the Harris
brothers do something like this?
A.
I cannot discuss that. It is
part of the motive.
Q. Did Jason help Chris or did
Jason physically kill some
members of the family?
A.
That is another part I
cannot go into.
Q. Were search warrants
filed to search the Harris
residences and vehicles?
A.
We used a lot of search
warrants, but we are not going
to release that information
until we move out of the
investigative part of the
investigation.
Q. So they are sealed
right now?
A. Yes.
Q. Don't the criminal
charges against Harris allege
that he struck blows?
A.
That is something I cannot
comment on. You'll have to speak
to the state's AG's office on
that.
Q. Does this mean that
further arrests are unlikely?
A.
More than likely, yes, that
is a correct statement.
Q. You believe you have
the folks responsible and you're
giving this to the prosecutors,
so as far as the police are
concerned, is this solved?
A.
NO, we're not done. Like I
said, we're still going to
follow up on all the leads that
we have. What I'm saying is
that we have the people in
custody that committed this act.
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top of second column] |
Q. Has Nicole Harris ever
been a person of interest in
this investigation?
A.
I'm not going to comment on
that.
Q. I understand that
Chris Harris has been
transferred back to Logan County
from McLean County as of this
morning, and Jason Harris has
been taken to McLean County. Why
the switch?
A.
That's just what I wanted to
do.
Q. Why?
(No
reply from sheriff.)
Q. When will Sara Duncan
arrive from Florida?
A.
We're still making those
arrangements.
Q. Do you expect more
serious charges against Earnest
or Duncan?
A.
Like I have said, at this
point in time we're going to go
with what I have given you. I am
not going to discount anything
at this point in time. There
are things that we are not going
to discuss and that is one of
them.
Q. Can you say anything
further about what Duncan did to
obstruct justice?
A.
No, that is another thing we
are not going to talk about.
Q. Did a violent struggle
in fact take place, seeing as
how they did allegedly know
their killers?
A.
We put out earlier that we
felt from what was observed at
the scene that there was a
violent struggle.
Q. Is there any more
information about the tailpipes
on this truck? Have you located
them?
A.
We believe we have accounted
for that. We're not going to
discuss that with you, but we
believe we have accounted for
that.
Q. Is the truck that you
recovered the same truck that
was outside the Nicole Harris
home?
A.
Yes.
Q. Why were you not able
to secure it or identify it as
the truck you wanted early on?
A.
That is part of the
investigation that came to us
that we are not going to
discuss.
Thank you.
That will be it. Thank you.
[LDN
staff] |
