Bond Denied for Mathew Nellessen, High Bail for Other Three Arlington Heights Homicide Suspects
Left-to-right: Mathew Nellessen, Azari Braden, Marlon Green, Armon Braden (Arlington Heights Police Department photos).
George W. Nellessen told a witness that he feared that one day his son would kill him.
Results of bond court hearing Monday at 9:00
Mathew Nellessen is charged with first-degree murder and armed robbery of his father George Nellessen, and ordered held without bail by Judge Kay Hanlon.
Marlon Green is charged with first-degree murder and armed robbery and ordered held with bail set at $3 million, but also ordered held without bail on a violation of probation from a 2009 robbery conviction.
Armon Braden is charged with first-degree murder and armed robbery and ordered held with bail set at $2 million.
Azari Braden is charged with first-degree murder and armed robbery and ordered held with bail set at $1.5 million.
After an investigation by Arlington Heights police and the Major Case Assistance Team that has been underway since the crime was reported 8:45 a.m. Thursday, Cook County prosecutors described the details of the scheme and crime during a bond hearing Monday morning at Rolling Meadows Circuit Court of Cook County:
Mathew Nellessen met Marlon Green while both were serving time at Cook County Jail. Mathew Nellessen was released from jail on March 25, 2011. When George Nellessen left for work Tuesday April 12, 2011, Mathew Nellessen called Marlon Green asking him to help rob his father. Green then enlisted the help of Armon Braden and Azari Braden.
Assistant State’s Attorney Maria McCarthy said that Mathew Nellessen, Armon Braden and Marlon Green waited for George Nellessen in his house in the 1000 block of North Wilshire while he was expected to come home from work later on Tuesday. Azari Braden waited at a remote location in a car after driving the other three suspects to George Nellessen’s house.
George Nellessen arrived home. At first George Nellessen confronted his son about a piece of paper he found with his own name, Social Security number and date of birth on it. Then, Armon Braden surprised George Nellessen by coming out of a hiding place in a closet while holding a pellet gun, which was later recovered. The three suspects then forced George Nellessen into a chair and secured him with duct tape. Nellessen and Braden are accused of duct taping the victim to the chair. Mathew Nellessen wrote a check for $100,000 to himself using his father’s checking account. He freed his father’s left hand from the tape so George Nellessen could sign the check. Mathew Nellessen also took $800 from his father’s wallet, and gave $400 to Armon Braden and $200 to Marlon Green.
After George Nellessen threatened to call the police, Mathew stated they had to kill him. He stuffed a rag into his father’s mouth and duct taped his eyes and nose. He then struck his father five times in the head with a baseball bat. He stabbed him with a steak knife or kitchen knife when he realized the blows with the bat did not kill him.
Armon Braden called his brother after the murder, relaying the information that Mathew Nellessen had killed his father. Azari Braden then returned and picked up his brother to return to the city. Nellessen and Green left the home and drove to the South Side of Chicago where they stayed in hotel rooms, withdrew money from the victim’s credit cards and bought marijuana.
Nellessen attempted to cash the $100,000 check at a South Side currency exchange, but was refused when the clerk became suspicious of the request. The currency store clerk photocopied the check and an identification card that Mathew Nellessen provided while the activity was recorded on video.
Mathew Nellessen attempted repeated ATM withdrawals on Wednesday from a variety of ATMs on Chicago’s South Side using his father’s credit card. Those transactions were also captured on video.
Nellessen gave $1,000 of the robbery proceeds to Marlon Green, who gave a portion of that money to Armon Braden.
Matthew Nellessen told Marlon Green that he planned to burn the items he took from the house. Video obtained by investigators also shows Nellessen buying lighter fluid from a South Side store.
Mathew Nellessen returned to his father’s house on Wilshire on Wednesday evening, April 13. Mathew Nellessen was still at the house when a female friend of George Nellessen’s employer arrived Thursday morning to check on George Nellessen, who had not showed up for work.
When she arrived at the house, she asked Mathew Nellessen how his father was feeling, Nellessen replied, “You will know right away.” Nellessen refused to let her in the house, and left abruptly — fleeing in his father’s pale green Lincoln Mercury Marquis.
After Mathew Nellessen left, the woman entered the house and discovered the brutal crime that had occurred in the family room. She immediately called 9-1-1.
See more as the crime story broke …
The Cardinal
Police Activity for Death Investigation at Home on North Wilshire Lane
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Police Activity/Pursuit of Arlington Heights Homicide Suspect: Harper College, Route 62, Route 25, Route 72
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Victim’s Identity Released in Death Investigation on Wilshire: George Nellessen
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Arlington Heights Police: Son Is Being Held After Murder of George Nellessen
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