Minooka man convicted of 2nd-degree murder finishes rare probation

A man convicted of killing another man at his Minooka home without justification has successfully completed probation, a rare sentence that has only been issued in one other case filed since 2010 in Will County.

James Hess, 71, who pleaded guilty in 2019 to the second-degree murder of Nathan Hofkamp, 29, marked the end of a four-year probation period on July 7. Hess shot and killed Hofkamp in 2017 at Hess’ home in Minooka.

A killing is considered a second-degree murder in Illinois if a defendant has an unreasonable belief at the time of the incident that the circumstances would justify or exonerate the killing. The offense is a Class 1 felony, which allows for probation or conditional discharge.

Hess was able to avoid prison time for Hofkamp’s death and he was credited with just five days served in jail after the charges were filed.

Hess and Charles Clements, 82, were only two of 19 defendants in cases filed since 2010 who received probation for second-degree murder, according to data provided by the Will County Circuit Clerk’s Office. With the exception of the cases against Clements and Kevin Bailey, 30, they all began as strictly first-degree murder cases.

The 17 other defendants were sentenced to prison time ranging from almost five years to 20 years. They would usually have to serve at least 50% of that time and they received credit for any time spent in jail as well.

A wrongful death lawsuit was filed in 2017 against Hess by Crystal Carman, who shares a daughter with Hofkamp. The case resulted in a $23,000 settlement in 2019.

On Thursday, Carman’s lawyer, John Schrock, said he believed Hess “deserved jail time.”

“Human life is still human life,” Schrock said.

At Hess’ sentencing hearing in 2019, Judge Dave Carlson decided to give Hess four years of probation, as recommended by his defense attorney, Jeff Tomczak.

“What is the magic sentence? What is the thing that will make everybody walk out of here and say, ‘Oh, justice was done.’ That is not going to happen today. I rarely see that happen in a criminal courtroom because we deal with laws, facts and evidence. Sometimes justice doesn’t fall within those,” Carlson said in 2019.

Carlson told Hess that he “will have to deal with this obviously for the rest of your days.”

Unlike Hess, Carlson gave prison time to four other defendants convicted of second-degree murder in cases filed since 2010.

One of them was Michele Evans, 58, who stabbed her husband in the chest with a knife in 2015 in Bolingbrook. Evans, who had no criminal history, was ordered by Carlson to serve 50% of a 56-month prison sentence.

The events that led to Hess’ conviction began in 2017 when Nathan Hofkamp had been released from prison after serving time for theft and aggravated assault.

His mother, Kathy Hofkamp, held a small party to celebrate her son’s freedom at Hess’ Minooka residence. Hess and Kathy Hofkamp were dating at the time.

At some point during the party, Hess demanded everyone to go to bed, obtained a handgun and pointed it at Nathan and Kathy Hofkamp, according to Carman’s lawsuit. Hess shot and killed Nathan Hofkamp when he tried to disarm him, according to the lawsuit.

In 2019, Hess told The Herald-News that Nathan Hofkamp had “chased me through my house.” He also said he didn’t believe it was fair that he had been charged with first-degree murder.

“There’s no sense in having a gun to protect yourself if you can’t use it,” Hess said at the time.

At Hess’ sentencing hearing, he called the shooting a “tragic event that occurred.”

A prosecutor read a statement to Carlson from Kathy Hofkamp, which said, “This will forever be catastrophic to our family.”