Three men have been charged with burglary and property damage at the Kull Funeral Home in St. Elmo. 22-year old Travis E. Hopper of Altamont, 20-year old Dominic L. Eller of Herrick and 18-year old Jakeb J. Storck of St. Elmo have each been charged with one count of burglary as information states that allegedly each defendant “or one for whom he is legally responsible, without authority, knowingly entered Kull Funeral Home, belonging to Lynn Kull, located in St. Elmo, Fayette County, Illinois, with the intent to commit therein a theft.” The count is a Class 2 felony punishable by three to seven years in prison. The three men are also each charged with misdemeanors counts of criminal damage to property as they are alleged to have damaged multiple bottles of embalming fluid, misdemeanor counts of theft as they are alleged to have obtained unauthorized control of an embalming prod and misdemeanor counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor for allegedly compelling three minors in the commission of the burglary.
Hopper, Eller and Storck all appeared in Fayette County Court on Monday where they were advised of the charges against them. Hopper has been appointed conflict public defender Ryan Connor and bond has been set in the amount of $10,000. Eller has been appointed conflict public defender Keith Jacob and bond has been set in the amount of $10,000. Storck has been appointed Public Defender William Starnes and bond has been set in the amount of $10,000. All three men will make their first appearances with counsel for preliminary hearings on August 27 at 11am.
Additional charges in the matter are possible as two 17-year old females and one 17-year old male were also arrested in connection with the alleged burglary. The juveniles were all released into the custody of their parents pending the possible filing of charges.
