35 Years Later, Man Sentenced for Murder of Homewood Teen

After three and one half decades, justice was served at Markham Courthouse last Friday when Fred Rogers was sentenced to 22 years in prison for the 1977 murder of 17-year-old resident Kenneth Hellstrom.

Both Rogers and Hellstrom were teenagers at the time of the murder. According to family friend Elaine Egdorf, Rogers stabbed Hellstrom several times during his walk home from work. Hellstrom made his way home after the attack, but died shortly after, according to Sun-Times Media reports.

While Hellstrom's mother, Carol, died in 2010, his sisters were present at the hearing. Homewood's Elaine Egdorf read a victim's statement on behalf of Carol Hellstrom.

Now 51 years old, Rogers was caught by police in 2007 during a traffic stop. It was that stop that led to his confession of murder, according to reports. After some controversy, it was decided that Rogers, who was 16 at the time of the murder, can be tried as an adult.  

Rogers will have 30 days to contest the case, but there is currently no indication of him doing so.