A man charged in the killing of his ex-wife inside her Oswego home in January has been assigned a public defender.

Ryan Dodd, 44, of Aurora, was arrested on Jan. 29 after Ashley A. Stewart, 41, was found stabbed to death in her home on Valentine Way in Oswego on Jan. 27.

Dodd remains in custody at the Kendall County Jail. Kendall County State’s Attorney Eric Weis said his office will be tendering discovery between now and Dodd’s next court hearing at 9 a.m. April 28.

The Kendall County Coroner’s Office did a forensic autopsy on Jan. 29 that indicated the victim suffered multiple sharp force injuries, police said.

Dodd has been charged with felony counts of first degree murder, home invasion, armed violence, residential burglary and aggravated stalking.

Dodd allegedly used a GPS tracking device to monitor Stewarts whereabouts, court records state. He allegedly had a GPS tracking device installed under the rear bumper of Stewart’s 2022 black Ford Expedition, according to court records.

“It is clear that the defendant had planned this attack based upon the GPS tracker installed on the victim’s car,” Weis said in a petition to deny Dodd pretrial release. “It is also clear that the defendant was determined to see this through because a police contact with him earlier in the morning and a neighbor contact less than an hour before the murder did not deter him. ”

The killing of Stewart was not done spontaneously, Weis said in the petition.

“In fact, it was done the day before his post decree divorce case involving the victim was to be heard in Will County. Based on these facts, along with the totality of the circumstances show that there are no less restrictive conditions that would assure the safety of the community," he stated in the petition.

Police found four separate incidents of surveillance conducted by Dodd starting on Dec. 14 and ending on Jan. 21, according to court records.

Police responded to two calls for service involving Dodd and Stewart. On Dec. 14, there was a “domestic incident” where Dodd showed up at Stewart’s house unannounced, according to court records.

“Ryan was spoken to by officers and advised not to return,” court records state. “No report was taken for this incident.”

On Jan. 21, there was a “citizen assist” where Stewart wanted information about an order of protection against Dodd, according to court records.

“Ashley did not make a report,” court records state.

A few weeks before being charged in Stewart’s murder, a judge had ordered Dodd to pay her $15,000 in per month in emergency temporary child support.

On or about Dec. 19, Dodd was ordered to pay $15,000 per month in emergency temporary child support, according to bankruptcy records.

Dodd and Stewart married in October 2004 in Greenville, Michigan and had five children together.

As part of a marital settlement, he agreed to pay Stewart $2.2 million over 10 years in the form of a monthly payment in the amount of $18,333.33 per month beginning Sept. 1, 2022, Will County Circuit Court records show.

A caller identifying himself as Stewart’s current husband had initially called police about 1:10 p.m. Jan. 27 after seeing via home surveillance a man run after his wife, Oswego police said.

According to court records, Oswego police detectives on Jan. 28 executed a search warrant on Dodd’s house in Aurora.

“Oswego detectives located a black garbage bag inside of the attached garage containing clothing that matched the suspect in the victim’s video during the murder,” according to court records. “Additionally, a large fixed blade knife was seen inside of the garbage bag with shoes,” according to court records.

The bag was opened at the Oswego Police Department in an evidence processing bay.

“The bag contained all of the external clothing matching the surveillance video to include socks and undergarments worn,” according to court records.