'This Could Be Anybody Else's Kid Next Time:' Curl Gets 37 Years in Toni Keller Murder

Toni Keller was 18 years old when she was murdered in a DeKalb park after taking a walk on a sunny fall day.

The man who admitted killing her will be 71 when he gets out of prison.

William Curl, 36, pleaded guilty Wednesday morning to murdering Keller, a Plainfield resident and freshman at Northern Illinois University.

As part of a plea deal, he was sentenced to 37 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections. He must serve 100 percent of the sentence, which the DeKalb County State’s Attorney’s office called “the longest ever imposed at 100 percent on a negotiated plea” on a non-death penalty case in DeKalb County. Curl is not eligible to receive time off for good behavior, although he will get credit for the more than two years he’s served in the DeKalb County Jail.

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Curl was charged with five counts of first-degree murder, one count of criminal sexual assault, one count of arson and one count of concealing a homicidal death. After several delays, his trial was scheduled to start April 11.

Toni’s parents, Roger and Diane Keller of Plainfield, expressed their dismay after learning Monday that a plea deal was on the table.

“My family is so tired of suffering,” Diane said in a post on the Summoning of Yellow Facebook page, created to support the Keller family. “I am ashamed to be in the State of Illinois. They [knew] hew as guilty and evidence showed a strong case. Instead, a criminal gets the option of a lighter sentence for a guilty plea. So he gets off after [37] years and Roger and I and RJ and Nana and Grandma Keller and all of the Keller family gets a life sentence.”

In a press release issued immediately following the proceedings, State’s Attorney Richard H. Schmack called the case “challenging, because it would have involved a trial without occurrence witnesses, a murder weapon, a time of death, a cause of death, limited forensic evidence and no confession.”

Schmack, who was elected in November 2012, said if a jury would have convicted Curl of murder, his sentence would have ranged from 20 to 60 years. If he was convicted only of arson and acquitted of the other changes, Schmack maintained, “He would have been out of prison by Thanksgiving.”

Emotions ran high at Curl’s Wednesday morning sentencing, according to the DeKalb Daily Chronicle, which reported that a woman stood up during the proceedings and shouted, “Billy, don’t take it. They’re railroading you.” She was removed from the courtroom, according to the newspaper.

Curl’s sister, Moria Curl, told the Chronicle that her brother accepted the deal because he wanted an Alford plea, which allows a defendant to plead guilty, acknowledging that the evidence could prove his guilt, but still maintaining his innocence.

Thelma Holderness, founder of the Summoning of Yellow page and friend to the Keller family, said Toni’s parents were told Tuesday night that they had until 10:30 a.m. Wednesday to submit a victim impact statement to the court. She said they did not attend the sentencing.

“I truly do not blame them,” Holderness said.

Schmack said it was a testament to prosecutors’ skill in building a case that Curl agreed to plead guilty. In his press release, Schmack defended the decision to negotiate a plea deal.

“In all those preparations, Toni Keller, and the suffering of her family, was never out of their thoughts. They also had to consider the gross injustice of a potential verdict of not guilty, and the unimaginable pain that would have meant for her loved ones. Some may be able to put that risk out of their thoughts, but prosecutors cannot.”

Diane Keller took to Facebook Monday to blast the plea negotiations — and the new state’s attorney.

“I blame the city of DeKalb for the easy way out to save money, time and [their] reputations … All kids at NIU, do not go in the park district property! I am fully aware of other criminals in there. Please stay safe,” she wrote.

“We recognize that we can never fully understand the pain of the families of murder victims, even as we attempt to fully explain all of the intricacies of the legal system,” Schmack said in his press release, continuing:

… Sometimes, as is the case here, we do not reach a point where the victim’s family is in full agreement with everything we have done. … Our first obligation is to do our utmost to protect the people of the State of Illinois from further harm at the hands of the criminal we are prosecuting. … We firmly believe that this result will protect the citizens of DeKalb County, and the people of Illinois as a whole, from further harm at the hands of William Curl, and if a sentence of 37 years, primarily to be served at a maximum security prison, such as the State Penitentiary at Menard, Illinois, is not an adequate deterrence to others I do not know what would be. 

A young life cut short

Toni disappeared in October 2010 after telling friends she was going to take photos for an art assignment in Prairie Park near the NIU campus. She never returned.

Police said Curl grabbed the teen as she walked in the park, raped her, killed her and set her body on fire. Her remains were found two days after her disappearance but not positively identified until January 2011 because they were so badly burned, police said.

Curl, who was unemployed and living in DeKalb at the time of the murder, drew the attention of investigators when he failed to show up at a second interview with police. He fled, first to Mexico, then later to Louisiana, where he was arrested, police said.

Holderness criticized the plea deal, saying she believed the evidence was more than sufficient to convict Curl. She said evidence showed that, after killing Keller, Curl returned home minus his glasses and his sweatshirt. A lens consistent with the glasses Curl had been wearing was found with her remains, Holderness said.

“[Toni] fought him,” she said. “She broke his glasses.”

According to police, Curl also had several scratches on his chest when he was questioned.

Prosecutors said Curl admitted to encountering Keller in the park — and at one point acknowledged that she inflicted the scratches on his chest — but told conflicting stories, including claiming that she had consensual sex with him and died of a drug-induced seizure.

In another version of his story, prosecutors said Curl claimed he found Keller's bloody body in the park and attempted to move her, and panicked after he got blood on his clothes and shoes.

“The state’s attorney had this case,” Holderness said. “The citizens here are pissed. It’s not just the family. A lot of people are mad …

“We can’t change [the decision],” Holderness added, but said members of the Summoning of Yellow page have been flooding the state’s attorney’s office with calls and emails to express their displeasure.

On Monday, April 8, supporters plan to hold a peaceful demonstration from 3 to 7 p.m. at the DeKalb County Courthouse, 133 W. State St. in Sycamore.

“This was a really bad decision,” Holderness said, adding she does not believe the plea agreement is justice for Toni. “This could be anybody else’s kid next time.”

Read more about Toni Keller:

• No Trial in Toni Keller Murder: Killer Cops a Plea for 37-Year Sentence
  
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• Judge Denies Motion to Delay Toni Keller Murder Trial
• Toni Keller Murder Trial Delayed Again
• Judge: Defendant Will Face First-Degree Murder Charges in Death of Toni Keller
• Toni Keller Trial: New Start Date Falls on Slain Student's 21st Birthday
• Accused Killer Seeks to Have Murder Charges Dismissed in Toni Keller Case