Killer of Plainfield grad, sports hall of famer sentenced to 70 years in prison

Jeffrey Keller was sentenced to 70 years in prison for shooting and killing Plainfield High School graduate and sports hall of famer Nate Fox, DuPage County prosecutors said.

Keller was convicted of first-degree murder May 26, after a six-day trial. Fox, a 1995 Plainfield graduate, was killed by Keller on Dec. 22, 2014, at the age of 37. He died from multiple gunshot wounds.

On that December day, Keller waited outside Fox’s Bloomingdale’s home before shooting Fox as he exited his car. Keller was CEO of 8to18 Inc., an Oakbrook Terrace-based communications company that managed sports websites for many area high schools.

The investigation into Fox’s death was led by Bloomingdale police. Keller tried to cover his tracks, but he was arrested about three weeks after the murder, county prosecutors said.

Authorities have said Keller became obsessed over a relationship he thought Fox was having with a woman with whom Keller had a longtime emotional relationship.

“In Jeffrey Keller’s mind, Nate Fox was a threat that had to be eliminated,” DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin said in a statement. “Three days before Christmas 2014, Jeffrey Keller’s evil plot of eliminating Nate Fox, a man he never met yet considered a romantic rival, came to fruition.”

Keller’s defense argued that Fox accidentally was killed in a struggle, but Berlin said the jury rejected his “absurd attempt to avoid responsibility for the cold-blooded murder of [Fox].”

Fox was inducted into the Plainfield Central’s athletics hall of fame in 2006. Besides being one of the school’s scoring leaders in basketball, he also played football and was a quarterback during his senior year.

Fox accepted a college scholarship at Boston College. Midway through his college career, he transferred to the University of Maine, where he earned a degree in communications.

During his two years at Maine, Fox averaged about 18 points a game while helping the school to a 43-16 record. He was a two-time All-America East selection. After college, Fox went on to play professional basketball in Europe.

"He was one of the few people you come across whose personality really was infectious," said Plainfield basketball coach Dave Stephens after Fox's death. "He allowed everyone around him to relax. When he played on your team, it was like being on the ball field as a little kid. He played a game because it was fun and for no other reason, and everyone else fed off that."