An emergency motion filed last week by the attorney general's office claims the district court exceeded its authority when U.S. District Court Judge James R. Sweeney ordered the release of John Myers, who was convicted of murdering Bloomington resident Jill Behrman.
Sweeney ruled in October 2019 that Myers was to be released due to "ineffective counsel" in his 2006 trial. Attorney General Curtis Hill appealed that ruling, but an appeals court in Chicago ruled in May that Myers was to be released until an appeal decision this fall.
Myers' release is scheduled for June 15, but Hill's emergency motion could prevent that.
Behrman grew up in Bloomington. She was 19 when she disappeared on a bike ride in May of 2000. Police later identified several suspects and drained Salt Creek in Monroe County after one of the suspects confessed.
But no body was found there and no one was charged at that time. Myers was not one of the initial suspects.
Sara Wittmeyer and Bob Zaltsberg contributed to this story.
