GUILTY IL - Sidne-Nichole Buchanan, 27, Hollywood Casino Amphitheater, Tinley Park, 27 July 2019 *ARREST*

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MAR 12, updated JUL 20, 2020
Murder defendant could face jury in June after higher court declines appeal
[...]

James E. McGhee, 38, of Gary, had been seeking to appeal Lake Criminal Court Judge Clarence Murray's decision not to dismiss his case based on his claims he was denied his right to a speedy trial.

Murray certified an interlocutory appeal in January, but the Indiana Court of Appeals issued an order Friday denying acceptance.

[...]

Judge Pro Tempore Michael Pagano set a pretrial hearing for May 14 and scheduled a trial to begin June 22. The trial could take up to two weeks.
 
Nooooooo! :eek:

NOV 6, 2020
Gary Man Accused Of Murdering Sidne-Nichole Buchanan Put On Home Monitoring – CBS Chicago (cbslocal.com)
Lake Superior Court Judge Diana Boswell on Thursday upheld her Oct. 19 ruling the 39-year-old McGhee was qualified to be released on his own recognizance to home confinement with an ankle monitor because the state took too long to bring him to trial.

Man accused of killing woman after Tinley Park concert put on home monitoring | WGN-TV
[...]

“It’s definitely not what we wanted, we’ve been pushing against that the whole time,” Brad Carter, Lake County Prosecutor’s Office spokesman, said.

Prosecutor Eric Randall argued McGhee was a “danger to the community” and a flight risk.

“I agree, Mr. Randall, there are extreme risks with this defendant,” Boswell said. “However, he is entitled to be released.”

[...]
 
PommyMommy said:
Nooooooo! :eek:

NOV 6, 2020
Gary Man Accused Of Murdering Sidne-Nichole Buchanan Put On Home Monitoring – CBS Chicago (cbslocal.com)
Lake Superior Court Judge Diana Boswell on Thursday upheld her Oct. 19 ruling the 39-year-old McGhee was qualified to be released on his own recognizance to home confinement with an ankle monitor because the state took too long to bring him to trial.

Man accused of killing woman after Tinley Park concert put on home monitoring | WGN-TV
[...]

“It’s definitely not what we wanted, we’ve been pushing against that the whole time,” Brad Carter, Lake County Prosecutor’s Office spokesman, said.

Prosecutor Eric Randall argued McGhee was a “danger to the community” and a flight risk.

“I agree, Mr. Randall, there are extreme risks with this defendant,” Boswell said. “However, he is entitled to be released.”

[...]
Click to expand...
Wait WHAT??? HOW CAN THEY LET THIS HAPPEN??? This guy is a monster!
 
JAN 20, 2021
Trial delayed for man charged with killing woman, dumping body in forest preserve | Crime and Courts | nwitimes.com
[...]

James McGhee, 39, had been scheduled to stand trial starting Feb. 22. The Indiana Supreme Court last month extended a suspension of all in-person jury trials through March 1 because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Lake Criminal Court Judge Diane Boswell on Wednesday rescheduled McGhee's trial to begin June 1.

[...]

He's now awaiting trial under house arrest in the homicide of 27-year-old Sidne-Nichole Buchanan.

[...]

McGhee's pretrial hearing was set for May 11.
 
MAY 25, updated JUN 6, 2021
Man charged in woman's beating death won't face jury until this fall | Crime and Courts | nwitimes.com
[...]

Judge Diane Boswell reset McGhee's trial for the weeks of Oct. 18 and 25.

[...]

Defense attorney Michael Woods said Lake County Deputy Prosecutor Infinity Westberg agreed to a joint request to continue the trial after they discovered the defense did not have a copy of an FBI report analyzing cellphone location data in the case. The situation was the result of an oversight, Woods said.

Woods said the report is more than 70 pages long and he would not have enough time to analyze or consult with his own expert about it before a June trial.

[...]

McGhee's cellphone location data also is the subject of a motion to suppress filed by the defense.

Woods said authorities obtained the data in a warrantless search.

Woods and Westberg agreed to talk with Magistrate Kathleen Sullivan about rescheduling a hearing currently set for 7 a.m. Tuesday on the motion to suppress.
 
MAY 11, updated JUN 6, 2021
Defense wants to suppress cell data in case against man charged in woman's beating death | Crime and Courts | nwitimes.com
[...]

McGhee had a reasonable expectation of privacy, and data obtained through a warrantless search was later used as a basis to obtain warrants for "all sorts of information," Woods said.

According to the motion, an FBI agent and members of the agency's Gang Response Investigative Team task force seized cellular communications concerning McGhee from Verizon Wireless without a search warrant July 30, 2019.

That was the same day Buchanan's family reported her missing.

[...]

The information investigators seized included McGhee's current and historical cell site location, the motion states.

Federal authorities conducted the search "upon representation that said seizure was authorized by federal law and justified by exigent circumstances," specifically "the danger or death or serious physical injury to a person, necessitating the immediate release of information," Woods wrote.

Authorities lacked probable cause and "sufficient exigent circumstances to seize records without a warrant," violating McGhee's constitutional right to be free from unreasonable search and seizure, the defense filing states.

[...]
 
I AM NEW TO THE THREAD....id like to first offer condolences to the family of sidne.... I have been researching this case up and down for the last 6 months..... just happened to come across this forum 2 days ago. I appreciate pommymommy for the updates. Its been a real headache trying to get access to those news paper reports, between the subscription fees and the matter of fact the coverage of this case extends into multiple jurisdictions, its just draining sometimes.... @PommyMommy I was wondering if you would be able to provide me with the full article covering Mcghees Attorney Jasmine Yolanda Perkins.... when the state filed a motion to remove her from the case because she represented "kevin thomas" in a prior cases.??...?
 
openureyes99 said:
I AM NEW TO THE THREAD....id like to first offer condolences to the family of sidne.... I have been researching this case up and down for the last 6 months..... just happened to come across this forum 2 days ago. I appreciate pommymommy for the updates. Its been a real headache trying to get access to those news paper reports, between the subscription fees and the matter of fact the coverage of this case extends into multiple jurisdictions, its just draining sometimes.... @PommyMommy I was wondering if you would be able to provide me with the full article covering Mcghees Attorney Jasmine Yolanda Perkins.... when the state filed a motion to remove her from the case because she represented "kevin thomas" in a prior cases.??...?
Click to expand...
Per WS rules, I cannot post the full article, but here is the link:

Judge denies request to remove lawyer in Hammond man’s murder case - Chicago Tribune

Also notice in the top right-hand corner of your screen there is a private messaging feature via "Inbox."

Welcome to Websleuths! :)
 
AUG 18, 2021
FBI employee defends warrantless seizure of records in murder case | Crime and Courts | nwitimes.com
[...]

FBI staff operations specialist Susan Graff said she was assigned the task of contacting Verizon Wireless on July 30, 2019, to request cellphone records for James E. McGhee.

[...]

Graff said she knew McGhee had a history of domestic violence — but she wasn't aware of any specific details — when she submitted an exigent request to Verizon for McGhee's phone records.

[...]

Attorneys for McGhee want the court to suppress the records Graff obtained, because they say the FBI violated McGhee's Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable search and seizure. The records contain McGhee's cell site location data in the days after Buchanan went missing.

[...]

Magistrate Kathleen Sullivan is expected to preside Thursday over a second hearing on McGhee's motion to suppress.
 
TootsieFootsie said:
Detectives: No time for warrant in search for missing woman found dead in 2019
Click to expand...
SEPT 4, 2021

[...]

If McGhee's motion to suppress were granted, prosecutors could be barred from presenting additional evidence at trial obtained when investigators executed search warrants based, in part, on information gathered in the warrantless search.

Lake County Deputy Prosecutor Infinity Westberg asked Gootee if he recalled any cases where McGhee's previous girlfriends became uncooperative with police and prosecutors because of McGhee's actions.

Gootee said one of McGhee's former girlfriends was reluctant to testify against him because her car had been stolen and either her car or home had been set on fire.

[...]

Police had been unable to locate Buchanan's cellphone, so gathering location data from the cellphone belonging to McGhee — who admittedly was the last person with her — was their only other option, Clark said.

Investigators also were suspicious, because McGhee had claimed he dropped Buchanan off at home and sent her mother a screenshot with a timestamp that did not match up with that claim, Clark said.

[...]

Sullivan said she anticipated a ruling on McGhee's motion to suppress before his trial, which was scheduled to start Oct. 18.
 
OCT 8, 2021
Man accused in woman’s death after Illinois concert released back to house arrest after fraud charges
[...]

James E. McGhee, 40, was released in November 2020 under Indiana Criminal Rule 4 after his defense lawyer argued prosecutors took too long to bring him to trial.

[...]

He was arrested again after he was separately charged Sept. 24 with fraudulently applying for $40,000 from the federal Paycheck Protection Program and Oct. 1 with getting $30,000 in Indiana unemployment benefits after he was released.

[...]

Burke had argued McGhee’s Rule 4 release should be revoked since he violated the court’s authority by getting new charges. The judge denied his request.

[...]

His pretrial hearing is Oct. 18, with a murder trial scheduled to start Oct. 25.
 
OCT 21, 2021
Trial opens for man accused of killing Gary woman after 2019 Tinley Park concert
[...]

The trial was briefly delayed for two days after Judge Diane Boswell’s death on Tuesday. LaPorte Superior Court Judge Michael Bergerson is temporarily overseeing her courtroom.

McGhee’s trial is expected to last two weeks.

[...]

Bergerson decided to poll the jury on what they might have read. He individually interviewed a handful of jurors who said they had seen recent headlines. Some said they had read an article on Boswell’s death. None said they read that article on the case.

[...]

“You gotta help me get rid of her,” the prosecutor said McGhee said.

[...]

Buchanan had injuries including a fractured jaw, multiple fractured ribs, a fractured ankle and foot, Bruno said.

[...]

The trial continues Friday.
 
OCT 23, 2021
Boyfriend testifies about final call with woman, man charged in her murder | Crime and Courts | nwitimes.com
[...]

AG was among several witnesses to testify during the third day of McGhee's trial on one count of murder.

[...]

AG met Buchanan at his business in Gary's Miller section and dated her on and off for about eight years. ...

[...]

On July 27, 2019, Buchanan contacted AG and he took her to Southlake Mall in Hobart to pay her phone bill, he said.

They had a sexual encounter while they were together, and he dropped her off at home because she said she wasn't feeling well, he said.

He attempted to contact her later in the evening to ask if she was feeling better and subsequently received a video call from Buchanan's phone, but he could not answer it because his phone's camera was broken, he said.

Later, after Buchanan's disappearance, he thought it was odd that she would attempt a video call, because she knew his phone was broken, he said.

AG said he continued to try to message Buchanan, but he eventually received a message that said, "Dude stop."

[...]

AG next received a phone call from Buchanan's phone, but it was from a man who identified himself as "Jay" or "James," he said.

He could hear Buchanan in the background, but her voice sounded deeper and slower than usual, he said. He had never known Buchanan to drink alcohol, he said.

[...]

AG told Woods he was at home in Illinois with other family members when "Jay" called him.

After he learned Buchanan never made it home that night, he helped search for her and continued trying to contact her, he said.

[...]

McGhee's ex-wife, HM, testified she and McGhee were divorced in 2018 but still talked because they shared custody of their daughter in July 2019. McGhee no longer has any parental rights, she said.

[...]

HM said her ex-husband laughed and said he dropped Buchanan off at her boyfriend's house about 11 p.m., she said.

[...]

McGhee's trial was expected to continue Monday.
 
OCT 26, 2021
Murder trial dwells on grisly evidence of Gary woman’s death
[...]

Jurors viewed her skeletal remains from photographs taken on an autopsy table of the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office.

[...]

Dr. Katrina Thompson testified Tuesday her efforts to determine the cause of death were made difficult by the advanced decomposition of the body.

[...]

Thompson said she had to call on the help of Erin Waxenbaum, a biological anthropologist.

[...]

They found fractures in the victim’s jaw, ribs, left leg and right foot as well as a dislocated collarbone.

Thompson said the blunt force trauma wasn’t enough to have killed her.

But the fractures combined with the suspicious placement of the body in heavy brush led her to declare it a deliberate homicide, although of unspecified means.

[...]
 
OCT 28, 2021
A secret key and stolen shoes: Key witness takes stand at murder trial
A key state's witness in a murder case against a Hammond man testified Wednesday he secretly made a copy of the defendant's apartment key, stole his shoes and tried to give him the slip days after helping him dispose of a woman's body.

Kevin L. Thomas, aka Kevin Seals, said he did not clearly remember every detail, but he insisted he saw defendant James E. McGhee Jr. move a woman's body from inside a Gary apartment to an Illinois forest preserve.

[...]

Thomas went to McGhee's apartment July 28, 2019, and saw a woman's body wrapped in plastic in a bedroom, he said.

Thomas testified he backed out, and McGhee exited the apartment a short time later with a suitcase that appeared to have legs sticking out of the top of it. The legs were covered with a blanket or sheet, he said.

[...]

Thomas admitted he later used the copy of McGhee's key to enter the apartment and steal a pair of gym shoes, which he wore to an interview with detectives.


Thomas said he gave police the shoes the day he was interviewed. He testified he took the shoes from the apartment after it was searched by police, but said he didn't recall a prior statement that he took the shoes before the search warrant was executed.

[...]
 
NOV 3, 2021
Man convicted of murdering woman in fit of jealous rage | Crime and Courts | nwitimes.com

NOV 5, 2021
Hammond man would face longer murder sentence after judge approves enhancement - Chicago Tribune
[...]

James McGhee, 40, faces 45-65 years for the murder of Sidne-Nichole Buchanan, 27, after a July 2019 rap concert in Tinley Park, Illinois.

Prosecutors added a habitual offender enhancement — which could add 6-20 years to that sentence.

Senior Judge Michael Bergerson agreed with the evidence presented on the enhancement in a ruling Friday, which indicated McGhee had at least two prior felony convictions.

His sentencing hearing is set for Dec. 2.

[...]
 
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