Police Say Blood Found On Kelly

November 06, 1991|By Art Barnum.

Naperville police reported Tuesday at a Du Page County coroner`s inquest that traces of blood were discovered on the clothes that James Kelly said he wore the day he is accused of stabbing to death his former wife, Jayne Kelly. Prosecutors declined to comment on reports about the blood that police said was found on the clothes that Kelly, of Chicago, voluntarily gave Naperville police Sept. 4, the day his 38-year-old ex-wife was found slain.

According to evidence submitted at Tuesday`s inquest, Jayne Kelly was stabbed four times in the chest, with several of the wounds hitting her heart, as she entered the front door of her townhouse at 418 Orleans Ave., Naperville.

Police said they believe the slaying took place shortly after Jayne Kelly dropped two of her children off for school and then returned home.

The autopsy report showed that she was unable to offer any defense to her attacker, and that no struggle with the attacker occurred. She died from blood loss within minutes of being stabbed as she lay inside her front door. The weapon, which was recovered, was a carving knife taken from the victim`s kitchen.

Assistant State`s Atty. Joseph Birkett declined to comment on the blood-stained clothing surrendered by Kelly or its role in Kelly`s upcoming murder trial.

Naperville police investigators also said Tuesday that no one has yet been able to place Kelly in Naperville on the day of the slaying. Also, none of his fingerprints were found in the home. There was no sign of a struggle, and nothing was missing.

Prosecutors have said the main evidence against Kelly will be the couple`s bitter custody battles over their three children and ongoing legal fights over Kelly`s financial settlement with his ex-wife.

Just before the slaying occurred, Kelly had lost another attempt to gain greater access to his children, and a Cook County judge had ordered him to pay his former wife about $250,000 in an additional settlement.

A key witness against Kelly will be his cousin, William Kelly, and two other men who have told police that Kelly tried to hire him in 1990 to kill Jayne Kelly.

Also prosecutors claim that Kelly initially told police he had no access to a car on the day of the slaying, but they said they have learned he had access to a rental car.