Crime & Safety
'Amoral Street Hustler' Guilty in Beating Death of New Lenox Man
Dwight Jones, 59, was bashed in the head with a lamp in his own home in 2011.
A jury returned a guilty verdict in a grisly 2011 New Lenox Township murder case.
Rodney Julun, 25, was convicted of bashing in 59-year-old Dwight Jones' head with a lamp.
“Rodney Julun is an amoral street hustler and an insidious liar who went home with Dwight Jones intending to brutally murder him just so he could steal and fence his valuables,” said Will County State’s Attorney Glasgow.
Julun, a Chicago resident, met Jones in the city and then accompanied him back to the older man's home in New Lenox Township. Once there, Julun beat Jones to death and stole his car, cash, cell phone, cash and other valuables.
RELATED: Dwight Jones Remembered as Caring Family Man
The next day, Julun came back with two other men—John White, 23 and David Reed, 25—and the three did even more stealing. White and Reed pleaded guilty to residential burglary in 2012. White was sentenced to six years in prison and Reed got four.
Julun reportedly waffled when explaining himself to detectives in the aftermath of the murder.
“After he was caught, Julun told so many lies to Will County Sheriff’s investigators that he was a sitting duck as prosecutor Chris Regis completely destroyed his credibility on cross examination," Glasgow said. "Jurors needed less than 90 minutes to deliberate, and they had no trouble determining that the evidence painstakingly gathered by sheriff’s detectives and skillfully presented by our prosecutors proved Rodney Julun guilty of this heinous murder beyond a reasonable doubt. ”
Go check out our Facebook page.
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.
