April 16, 2024
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Grand jury hands down first-degree murder indictment for former Marengo man

Extradition process underway to transport alleged killer to Illinois from Wisconsin where he remains in prison on unrelated kidnapping charges

By Amanda Marrazzo
Jonathan J. Van Duyn, 33, walks into Walworth County Circuit Court Tuesday afternoon, Aug. 24, 2021, for a change of plea hearing. Van Duyn pleaded guilty to taking his daughter without permission from Walworth County last December. He has since been charged with killing his girlfriend, Michelle Arnold-Boesiger, 33, of Harvard, and putting her body in a U-Haul storage unit in Roscoe, Illinois. Van Duyn faces charges in Illinois for murder with intent to kill and concealing a homicide death in connection to Arnold-Boesiger's death.

Jonathan J. Van Duyn, 33, walks into Walworth County Circuit Court Tuesday afternoon, Aug. 24, 2021, for a change of plea hearing. Van Duyn pleaded guilty to taking his daughter without permission from Walworth County last December. He has since been charged with killing his girlfriend, Michelle Arnold-Boesiger, 33, of Harvard, and putting her body in a U-Haul storage unit in Roscoe, Illinois. Van Duyn faces charges in Illinois for murder with intent to kill and concealing a homicide death in connection to Arnold-Boesiger's death. (Gregory Shaver for Shaw Media/Gregory Shaver for Shaw Media )

A former Marengo man serving a 12 ½-year prison term in Wisconsin for kidnapping could be extradited to Illinois by the end of February where he is formerly indicted with murdering his girlfriend.

The Winnebago County State’s Attorney’s Office had filed charges of first-degree murder and concealment of a homicidal death against Van Duyn in August. Those charges were approved by a grand jury in an indictment on Jan. 19.

Since then, on Oct. 29, Jonathan Van Duyn, 34, was sentenced to prison in Walworth County, Wisconsin, on charges of interference with child custody. In August, he pleaded guilty to kidnapping his 10-year-old biological daughter from her mother’s Wisconsin home and traveling with her to Indiana in December 2020.

The girl was found safe about three days later with her father in a campsite in Indiana, authorities said.

Winnebago County State's Attorney J. Hanley, right, and Winnebago County Sheriff Gary Caruana discuss details leading to charges against Jonathan Van Duyn for the murder of Michelle Arnold-Boesiger during a news conference in the Winnebago County courthouse on Tuesday, Aug. 10, 2021. Winnebago County authorities believe Arnold-Boesiger was murdered in mid-November 2020.

Winnebago County State's Attorney J. Hanley, right, and Winnebago County Sheriff Gary Caruana discuss details leading to charges against Jonathan Van Duyn for the murder of Michelle Arnold-Boesiger during a news conference in the Winnebago County courthouse on Tuesday, Aug. 10, 2021. Winnebago County authorities believe Arnold-Boesiger was murdered in mid-November 2020. (Randy Stukenberg for Shaw Local/Randy Stukenberg for Shaw Media)

While Van Duyn is housed in Waupun Correctional Institution in Waupun, Wisconsin, Illinois officials are working through the extradition process to transport him to Winnebago County Jail in Rockford, said Ken Larue, first assistant of the criminal division of Winnebago County State’s Attorney’s Office.

When he arrives he will be held on a $5 million bond and face charges of first-degree murder and concealment of a homicide in the death of Michelle Arnold-Boesiger, formerly of Marengo, according to the indictment filed Jan. 19.

Van Duyn faces up to 65 years in prison if convicted on both charges, Larue said.

Van Duyn is alleged to have killed Arnold-Boesiger, 33, on or about Nov. 15, 2020, and to have hidden her body inside a U-Haul storage unit in Roscoe, according to the indictment. Her remains were found inside a car in the storage unit about four months later on March 2, 2021, according to authorities.

Michelle Arnold-Boesiger, 33.

Michelle Arnold-Boesiger, 33. (Photo provided by Chris Szymanski)

An autopsy report indicated cause of death as undetermined. Potential causes of Arnold-Boesiger’s death include a drug overdose, asphyxiation, or a combination of the two, according to the woman’s autopsy report. Any of those possible scenarios could have been either accidental or homicidal, according to the report.

Arnold-Boesiger had filed an order of protection against Van Duyn in 2019 in McHenry County. He was facing multiple counts of aggravated domestic abuse at the time her body was discovered.

When authorities found Van Duyn and his daughter – who had been traveling in Arnold-Boesiger’s vehicle pulling a camper – police said they found notes allegedly written by Van Duyn inside the camper referring to Nov. 15, 2020, as the day he “finally set himself free.”