Man Found Guilty in '99 Wheaton Robbery Death Faces New Murder Charges

A man who was found guilty in a 1999 Wheaton death has now been charged with a similar case in Cook County from the same year, officials said.

Raymond Winters, 46, was charged with first-degree murder in the June 18, 1999 death of a Broadview business owner, the Cook County State's Attorney's Office announced on June 9. Three other men involved in the incident and kidnapping that preceded it were also charged with first-degree murder.

In 2011, Winters pleaded guilty to attempted armed robbery, a Class 1 Felony, in connection with the July 28, 1999 shooting death of then 32-year-old Aldis Tucker in Wheaton. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison and remains behind bars.

Winters went to Tucker’s home in Wheaton armed with a handgun and with the intention of robbing him, according to the DuPage County State's Attorney's Office. Once there, Winters shot Tucker several times including once at close range in his face. Winters then fled the scene.

The Wheaton shooting case was cold for about a decade until a jailhouse informant told authorities that he heard Winters discussing the crime while serving time in prison on an unrelated vehicular hijacking case, according to the DuPage County State's Attorney's Office.

The Broadview case also went cold for more than 10 years, with police unable to get "additional corroborative evidence" in the months that followed to bring charges against Winters and the other three men, according to a press release from the Cook County State's Attorney's Office.

The Broadview case finally progressed during an unspecified time period during which telephone records were identified, revealing the phone used to make the ransom calls during the 1999 kidnapping showed subscriber information that listed a prior address for Winters.

Authorities were aware of Winters' involvement in the 1999 Broadview death in 2011, but he still wasn't charged in that case at that time. Prosecutors wanted to use testimony that linked Winters to the death of the business owner when Winters' Wheaton case was headed to trial. But that's when he pled guilty and got the 25-year sentence.

Winters is expected in bond court on the Broadview case within a week or two, the Chicago Tribune reports.

The public is reminded that criminal charging documents contain allegations that are not evidence of guilt. The defendants are presumed innocent and are entitled to a fair trial at which the state has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

Previous reports by Dan Campana contributed to this article.