Palatine man accused of killing Rochelle woman in 2022 to appear in court again in April

OREGON – A Palatine man accused of fatally stabbing a Rochelle woman and then setting her apartment on fire in September 2022 appeared in court Wednesday with his attorney and asked for a two-month continuance.

Gary C. Freeman, 28, has pleaded not guilty to four counts of first-degree murder, one count of residential arson and one count of concealment of a homicide.

He is charged in connection with the death of Devin K. Gibbons, 28, of Rochelle.

Freeman, who is being held at the Ogle County Correctional Center on $10 million bond, appeared in Ogle County court Wednesday with his attorney, Robert Kerr.

Kerr said he had received additional discovery evidence from prosecutors in asking for the continuance.

“I’d ask for an April date,” Kerr said to Judge John Redington.

Ogle County Assistant State’s Attorney Allison Huntley did not object to the continuance.

In previous court hearings, Kerr said he has received discovery documents provided by prosecutors but needed more time to review the state’s evidence, which included “over 2,500 pages.”

Redington set Freeman’s next hearing for 1 p.m. April 3.

Gibbons was found dead in her Rochelle apartment, 503 Seventh Ave., after Rochelle police and firefighters were dispatched to that address at 10:46 a.m. Sept. 18, 2022, for a smoke investigation, according to a joint news release from the Rochelle Police Department and Ogle County State’s Attorney Mike Rock.

“Upon entry into the residence, fire personnel located a deceased female,” according to the release. “The fire was deemed suspicious, and additional investigators arrived on scene.”

Freeman became a suspect during the course of the investigation, according to the release.

An Ogle County grand jury in February 2023 indicted Freeman. An arrest warrant was issued Feb. 28, and he was apprehended in Palatine.

The first-degree murder charges, Class M felonies, allege that Freeman “knowingly stabbed” Gibbons “with the intent to kill her or do great bodily harm” and that the “murder was committed in a cold, calculated and premeditated manner, pursuant to a preconceived plan, scheme or design.”

The concealment of a homicidal death indictment, a Class 3 felony, alleged that Freeman knew Gibbons “had died by homicidal means” and “knowingly concealed” her death by leaving her body inside her apartment and then starting the fire. The residential arson charge is a Class 1 felony.

At the time of his arrest, prosecutors said many agencies worked on the investigation, including the Rochelle Police Department, the Ogle County Sheriff’s Office, Illinois State Police, the State Fire Marshal’s Office, the American Red Cross, Illinois State Police crime scene investigators, the Ogle County Coroner’s Office, the Ogle-Lee Fire Protection District, the FBI Rockford and Chicago offices, the Schaumburg Police Department, the Palatine Police Department, the Sterling Police Department and the Shining Star Children’s Advocacy Center.