Richard Michael Stoltz, a 63-year-old Caucasian male, was tragically murdered on April 30, 1979, in East St. Louis, Illinois. Stoltz was a World War II veteran and was engaged in stacking bricks in the back of a pickup truck when he was approached by Andre Jones and Freddie Tiller. The two men, along with Jones's girlfriend Laurie Elam, had been walking around the area when they spotted Stoltz.
Tiller expressed his intention to rob Stoltz and asked Jones for his gun, a .22-caliber Rohm revolver.
The robbery quickly escalated into a violent encounter. Tiller shot Stoltz, resulting in his immediate death. This brutal act was part of a series of crimes committed by Jones and Tiller, who were later indicted for the murders of Richard Stoltz, Samuel Nersesian, and Debra Brown. The indictment charged them with acting "without lawful justification and with the intent to kill," in violation of the Illinois murder statute.
Following their arrest, both Jones and Tiller faced significant legal repercussions. Jones pleaded guilty to all three counts of murder and was initially sentenced to death by electrocution for each count. However, the death sentence for the murder of Richard Stoltz was later vacated. Jones's convictions were upheld on direct appeal to the Illinois Supreme Court, but he continued to seek post-conviction relief, including federal habeas corpus relief, which was ultimately denied.
The case of Richard Stoltz's murder highlights the violent crime issues in East St. Louis during that period and the subsequent legal battles faced by the perpetrators. The legal proceedings involved multiple appeals and petitions, reflecting the complexities of the justice system in dealing with such heinous crimes.
