Wheaton man convicted in 1993 rape, murder transferred to mental health facility

A Wheaton man convicted in the 1993 killing of a 25-year-old woman in a Yorkville-area campground was up for parole in March, but records say he is now detained by the Illinois Department of Human Services.

Charles D. Parker was convicted of murdering and raping Denise Fialka Moreno, a waitress from West Chicago, in 1993 at the Hide-A-Way Lakes Campground east of Yorkville, but a Kendall County judge ordered a retrial in 1999 because of issues with Parker’s guilty plea in the first trial. Parker pleaded guilty again in 2000, and he was sentenced to 50 years in state prison.

Prior to the murder, Parker had served eight years in state prison after being convicted of rape in 1981 in DuPage County, according to Department of Corrections records.

Since Parker was sentenced and incarcerated before Illinois’ truth-in-sentencing law was passed in 1998, he was eligible for day-for-day credit, which allowed him to serve 50 percent of his 50-year sentence.

Department of Corrections records show Parker was “released to [Department of Human Services] supervision” on March 26. An Illinois State Police online sex offender registry says Parker has been “detained by the Illinois Department of Human Services.”

His projected discharge date on the Department of Corrections website is still listed as “to be determined.”

Illinois law states that “a person convicted of a sexually violent offense remains eligible for commitment as a sexually violent person” under certain circumstances.

Kendall County State’s Attorney Eric Weis said Parker is in the midst of a process that will determine if he is committed long term as a sexually violent person.

“Based on the nature of his offenses, he qualifies to be evaluated for a ‘sexually violent dangerous person’ commitment,” Weis said. “Most sex offenders or those who have sex offender-related crimes are evaluated before they’re released by the Department of Corrections and are not subject to commitment. It’s not just, did you commit the crime. It’s, [could] you continue to be a danger to society based on the nature of the crimes that you’ve committed in the past and your current mental makeup.”

As part of the process, Weis said, a mental health expert will examine an inmate and make the determination if he or she is subject to petition for commitment. He said his office assists the Attorney General’s Office with the process, but they are not the lead agency.

“They handle the petition, which has been filed,” he said.

Parker appeared March 26 in Kendall County Court. Weis said the probable cause hearing related to the petition is typically required to occur within 72 hours of the petition filing, but Parker waived that right. That will give Parker time to speak with his public defender, which is very common, Weis said.

Parker’s next hearing on the issue is set for 1 p.m. May 1 at the Kendall County Courthouse in Yorkville.

Weis said that hearing is only one step in the process and not the final decision, which will be made by the state.

In the meantime, Parker is “in a secured facility and will remain there until this issue is decided,” he said.

Moreno’s body was found on May 3, 1993, in Parker’s trailer home at Hide-A-Way Lakes, according to Kendall County Record archives citing court documents. Authorities said at the time that Moreno and Parker were acquaintances, but it was unknown how long he had known her.

Authorities said Parker picked up Moreno the day before the murder and drove to his trailer, where they drank beer and whiskey and sniffed carburetor cleaner. Parker told authorities he passed out and awoke about 5:30 a.m. to find Moreno’s body. Less than an hour later, an employee of the campground found pillows, a blanket and paper towels all covered in blood in a duct-taped garbage bag in one of the campground’s trash cans.

Parker turned himself in to the DuPage County Sheriff’s Office later that evening. He told officers about the body, and DuPage officials contacted the Kendall County Sheriff’s Office, who went to the campground and discovered the body.

Parker initially planned to plead not guilty but changed his plea to guilty as part of an agreement that resulted in an 80-year sentence rather than the death penalty.