Police Say Man Murdered Brother, Hid Dismembered Remains With Victim’s Wife

An Illinois man is accused of fatally stabbing his half-brother during an argument “about sport cards” before working with the victim’s wife to conceal the killing, including freezing parts of the body and dumping other remains in a lake with weights bought at Walmart, according to court records.

James Adams, 26, and Robin Turner, 62, have been charged with concealment of a homicide and dismembering a human body in connection with the late-June death of 38-year-old Dalewayne Turner of Plainfield.

The investigation began June 30, when a boater on Lake Mattoon in Shelby County discovered Dalewayne Turner’s severed arm and contacted police, according to a July 6 criminal complaint obtained by local ABC and CW affiliates WLS and WGN.

Authorities later recovered several black plastic trash bags from the lake containing additional human remains, along with weights and concrete. Police said a tattoo depicting a skeleton holding a Green Bay Packers helmet helped identify the remains as those of Dalewayne Turner.

According to the complaint, investigators used surveillance video, license-plate reader information and store records to connect Dalewayne Turner’s death to Adams and Robin Turner.

Court documents allege Adams was recorded buying weights and duct tape at a Walmart in Mattoon. Investigators also said Adams and Robin Turner purchased concrete several days earlier.

Police also interviewed Dalewayne Turner’s brother, Steven Turner, who allegedly told detectives that Adams admitted to killing Dalewayne. According to the complaint, Steven said Adams told him he “grabbed a knife and stabbed Dalewayne several times.”

“I killed Dale. He is in the freezer,” Adams allegedly told Steven Turner, WGN reports.

After being taken into custody, Adams and Robin Turner “both recounted that Dalewayne was stabbed several times, bled out, and succumbed to his injuries,” according to the complaint. Adams declined to give a full statement after being advised of his rights but allegedly made a comment to investigators that caught their attention.

“The one thing I will say is that I did it, but I did it out of self-defense,” Adams allegedly told police. “I will tell you guys that.”

Robin Turner allegedly stated that on the morning of June 21, Adams and Dalewayne Turner “had a verbal argument about sports cards.” Robin Turner told investigators that Adams admitted to stabbing Dalewayne Turner multiple times, the complaint says.

Adams and Robin Turner both lived with Dalewayne Turner in the 2400 block of Ruth Fitzgerald Drive in Plainfield and allegedly teamed up to dismember and conceal his body, according to police. A Ram pickup truck registered to the pair was allegedly spotted on license-plate reader cameras with bags of concrete in the bed.

On June 26, the cameras caught the truck carrying two totes in the bed with duct tape around them, according to the complaint. The truck was allegedly spotted leaving Mattoon without the totes in the bed.

Police say those same totes were later found in an overgrown ditch and contained Dalewayne Turner’s body parts. His head, neck and torso were allegedly found in a freezer in the basement of the home where the trio lived, covered by a blanket and topped with cinder blocks.

“Literally made me sick to my stomach,” Chrystal Mann, cousin of Dalewayne Turner, told WLS about his death and the body part discoveries.

According to Mann, Dalewayne Turner and his wife took custody of Adams when he was 13 after Adams’ biological father killed Adams’ mother. She says she spoke to Robin Turner on the day she was taken into custody.

“I was on the phone with her 10 minutes before she was arrested,” Mann recounted. “And I said, ‘Robin, what’s going on? Why am I hearing all this crazy stuff? I’m hearing rumors…’ She says, ‘Well, he’s still in treatment. And she said, Let me call you right back.’ I never talked to her again.”