Less than three weeks before a retired school teacher was found dead inside her Brookfield home, she posted the bail that allowed a man she had befriended and who is now charged in her slaying to be released from Cook County Jail, according to documents obtained by the Tribune.
Marilyn Fay, 65, used her credit card May 27 to put up the $2,500 bail that allowed Steven Kellmann, 30, to go free, documents show. Fay was found dead in her home on Monday, stabbed, beaten and suffocated, authorities said.
Kellmann, who was taken into custody Monday, was ordered held on $2 million bail Thursday after being charged with first-degree murder and armed robbery in connection with Fay's death.
Kellmann, who has a lengthy criminal record and spent time in prison, was charged May 16 with driving on a suspended license after a traffic stop by Chicago police on the Eisenhower Expressway, authorities said. According to the bond document, Fay posted the 10 percent of the $25,000 bail a judge set in that felony case and was listed as a friend of Kellmann's.
Kellmann first met Fay at the Brookfield Public Library, where she worked part time, and for a time she allowed him to live at her home, according to authorities and Fay's friends.
She had tried to help him repeatedly because she saw the good in him, and even after she asked him to move out because he had anger management problems, she allowed him to do handyman work at her house, friends said.
In several instances following past arrests, Kellmann posted bail but violated the terms for his release and forfeited those funds, prosecutors said. While setting the high bail during a hearing in Maywood on Thursday, Judge James Gavin cited the forfeited bonds and Kellmann's lengthy criminal record.
Gavin also found probable cause to detain Kellmann for Fay's slaying after prosecutors laid out their case against him. For Kellmann to be released, the entire bail amount would have to be paid.
Assistant State's Attorney Andres Almendarez said Fay was last seen alive with Kellmann about 7 p.m. Sunday. Her body was found by police the next day in the bedroom of her home in the 3300 block of Arthur Avenue.
In the hours after her death, Kellmann tried to use her credit cards three times. He also called family members, telling them he had messed up, was suicidal, was going back to jail and that he had killed somebody, Almendarez told the judge.
Using a locating signal from a cell phone, Kellmann was arrested about 5 p.m. in a motel room on the Southwest Side of Chicago with a 23-year-old Arlington Heights woman. Fay's SUV was parked a block and a half away. In the hotel room, police found bloody clothing and more than 40 bags of heroin. Family members said Kellmann had a drug problem. Kellmann also had Fay's cell phone, credit cards and keys, Almendarez said.
The woman was later released without charges.
Kellmann's criminal background includes aggravated robbery, for which he was sentenced to six years in prison for forcing someone to withdraw money from their account at gunpoint. Other convictions include battery and theft. The ongoing suspended license case stems from a previous DUI, Almendarez said.
Kellmann's next court date is June 24 in Maywood.
