Court increases bail to $2 million in homicide involving Savanna couple

GALENA – Bond was upped to $2 million this morning for a Savanna man accused of beating his girlfriend’s husband to death with his bare hands before investigators say he and she dumped his body in the Mississippi.

Levi “T.J.” Meyers, 35, is charged in JoDaviess Circuit Court with five counts of first-degree murder, concealment of a homicidal death and aggravated battery in the death of Keith A. Heidenreich Jr., whose body was found March 10 at Miller’s Boat Landing, about 4 miles north of Savanna at the northern entrance to Palisades State Park.

If convicted of murder, Meyers would be sentenced to 20 to 60 years without parole.

He was appointed a public defender; he has a preliminary hearing April 21 via Zoom.

Initial reports had his last name as Meyer, and said he is from Freeport, but Meyers has a Savanna address, according to charging documents.

Investigators say that he was living in Hanover with with Danielle Heidenreich, 39, who also has a Savanna address, court papers show, and that their residence is where Keith Heidenreich was killed.

She is charged with concealment of a homicidal death, punishable by 2 to 5 years, and obstructing justice, which carries 1 to 3 years. She is being held on $250,000 bond. She also was appointed a public defender and has a preliminary hearing April 21 via Zoom.

Meyers can be convicted of only one of the five murder charges; the state’s attorney files multiple charges to give a jury a variety of elements of consider when determining a verdict.

In the case, the counts accuse Meyers of beating Heidenreich with intent to kill, with intent to do great bodily harm, knowing the beating would kill him, knowing there was a strong probability it would kill him, or knowing there was a probability it would cause him great bodily harm.

If the jury finds any of the five elements true, that will be the charge upon which he is convicted.

Kathleen Schultz

Kathleen A. Schultz

Kathleen Schultz is a Sterling native with 40 years of reporting and editing experience in Arizona, California, Montana and Illinois.