Woodstock man, 53, ID'd as apartment stabbing victim; ex-Harvard man faces murder charge

WOODSTOCK – A 26-year-old Woodstock man is in custody in connection with the stabbing death of his roommate.

Branden M. Napolitan, who lives at 680 Leah Lane, Apt 1A, in Woodstock, is jailed in Madison, Wisconsin, without bond, officials in Dane County confirmed.

The victim has been identified as Daryl K. Fox, 53, according to a news release from the McHenry County Coroner's Office.

An autopsy showed Fox died from multiple injuries, including blunt-force injuries to his neck and a "sharp injury" to his lung.

According to a criminal complaint charging Napolitan with first-degree murder, he allegedly stabbed Fox in the upper torso and took the victim's Volkswagen Passat. Napolitan, formerly of Harvard, also is charged with theft and aggravated battery. Two separate complaints were filed Monday in McHenry County stemming from the Sunday incident.

McHenry County Coroner Anne Majewski was not available for further comment.

Police responded about 12:30 p.m. Sunday to the Prairie View Apartment Community after an acquaintance called in asking for a well-being check, according to a news release from Woodstock Police Chief Robert Lowen.

Fox and Napolitan shared an apartment at the complex, Deputy Chief John Lieb said.

When police arrived, they found Fox dead. The discovery prompted an investigation by Woodstock police, the McHenry County Major Investigation Assistance Team, the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force, the McHenry County coroner and the McHenry County State's Attorney's Office.

A few police officers involved in the investigation gathered near the crime scene tape that stretched in front of the two-story apartment building about 11 a.m. Monday.

Police also had cordoned off the two dumpsters near the apartment building, as well as a red Dodge pickup truck that was parked in the visitor's parking section of the lot.

The truck had been in the lot a couple times before, said Bethany Shebesta, who has lived in the building next door for about two weeks.

The surge in police activity came as a shock to some residents, who described the complex as a typically quiet place. Guadalupe Diaz said she came home about 2 p.m. Sunday to find three police cars in the parking lot.

"It's really quiet in here," she said Monday. "I've never seen anything like this in here. I don't know what's going on."

However quiet the complex is these days, Prairie View was home to a 2009 grisly murder, in which a man who went by "Thrill Kill Kyle" murdered a homeless man in a nearby apartment.
Kyle Morgan eventually was sentenced to 30 years in prison after pleading guilty but mentally ill to the crime.

Shebesta, like several other residents, did not know the resident of the apartment that was the subject of Monday's investigation.

She said police had camped outside the building overnight, but never spoke to her or other neighbors. Apartment complex officials also did not provide any information to residents, she said.

"I've never heard any fights or anything around here," Shebesta said. "My parents-in-law live a couple buildings down, and they had their vehicle broken into, but that was last year and that was just some punk kids."

Napolitan has a limited criminal history in McHenry County. In 2007, he was convicted of retail theft and underage drinking. His only other charge was truancy in 2005. According to court records and a Facebook profile in his name, he attended Harvard High School.