A March trial has been scheduled for Christopher Whetstone in the 2014 slaying in Aurora of his former girlfriend.
On Thursday, Judge John Barsanti and attorneys agreed to start the trial March 7 on charges that Whetstone shot and killed Rachel Taylor, the mother of their two children and his girlfriend until just prior to her death. Authorities said the couple argued and struggled outside Whetstone’s Charles Street residence on Jan. 13, 2014, and when police arrived, Taylor was unconscious on the sidewalk with two gunshot wounds.
Whetstone has pleaded not guilty to a charge of murder and remains held in Kane County Jail. A February hearing date has been scheduled for any remaining pretrial motions.
Whetstone, represented by the Kane County public defender’s office, was unsuccessful in efforts to have his statements to police suppressed on the grounds he did not voluntarily provide them. His attorney also had asked Barsanti to limit certain evidence relating to Whetstone’s home and potential witness testimony about a gun exchange that might have involved Whetstone.
Dan Campana is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.