A suspect described as a “monster” was arrested following a manhunt for the killer of an Illinois bar owner who authorities say was murdered in an “execution-style” shooting Monday.

Julius E. Burkes Jr., 47, was taken into custody on Tuesday in connection with the murder of 30-year-old Courtney M. Drysdale, the Kankakee County Sheriff’s Department said.

Drysdale was killed just before noon Monday inside The Line, a local bar she owned in rural Momence near the Illinois-Indiana border, authorities said.

The 30-year-old mother was opening the bar when the suspect walked in, brandished a gun and demanded money, WGNTV reported, citing the sheriff’s office. Drysdale complied with the demands, but investigators said the suspect shot her two times “execution-style” anyway.

EX-CON CHARGED IN CHRISTMAS DAY CVS ROBBERY THAT LEFT CLERK FATALLY STABBED

Detectives recovered surveillance images from the bar that showed a suspect wearing a bright yellow jacket, a hat and glasses, and driving a white BMW.

The suspect tried to remove a video recording device from the bar before he fled to Indiana, according to authorities.

Burkes was apprehended as he was leaving his residence in Hammond, Indiana, about 26 hours after the murder, the sheriff’s office said.

COLORADO REPEAT OFFENDER FREED FROM JAIL LESS THAN TWO WEEKS BEFORE ALLEGEDLY KILLING MOTHER OF THREE: REPORT

Kankakee County Sheriff Mike Downey thanked the public for supplying numerous tips, along with federal, state and local law enforcement officers who worked together to capture the suspect.

“We hope that in some way the apprehension of this monster will bring some sort of peace to Courtney’s family, friends and community,” the sheriff’s office said.

Court records obtained by WGNTV showed that Burkes has a criminal history spanning decades, including allegedly breaking into the home of an ex-girlfriend in December. He was reportedly out on bond for that case at the time of Drysdale’s murder.

The documents showed his criminal history included a 2014 battery case to which he pleaded guilty. He was placed on 12 months of supervised release, which he completed.

In 1995, he pleaded guilty to two counts of felony murder when he was just 15 years old, the outlet reported. He was sentenced to 37 years in that case, though the outlet noted his role in the crime was unclear as records detailing the incident were not immediately available.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Burkes is being held in Indiana, where he awaits an extradition hearing back to Illinois.

DETROIT — An eight-game winning streak didn’t just end Friday night. It was run out of the gym.

The Pistons reiterated their position atop the East with a 118-80 curb stomp of the short-handed Knicks, who were a disaster on offense while losing for the first time since Jan. 19.

Jalen Brunson lowlighted the evening while shooting just 4-for-20 with 12 points, appearing exhausted after carrying the Knicks in a double-overtime thriller two nights earlier.

Brunson was locked down by Ausar Thompson and sat the entire fourth quarter alongside his fellow starters, with coach Mike Brown waving the white flag earlier than ever.

“They kicked our behind, starting with me,” Brown said. “We all got our behind kicked. The Pistons are a good defensive team.”

Overall, the Knicks shot just 35.8 percent — including 24.2 percent on 3s — with James Dolan making the trip to Detroit and watching the ugliness before leaving his courtside seat for the fourth quarter.

It was the fewest points scored by the Knicks this season, by far. Their previous low was 90 points — also in Detroit.

“Obviously, I missed a lot of shots,” Brunson said. “We missed shots as a team, as well.”

The Pistons (38-13), who are now 5 ½ games ahead of the Knicks (33-19) for first in the East, were faster, stronger and more motivated — just like their last matchup about a month ago.

They clearly wanted to send another message after getting eliminated by New York in the first round of last year’s playoffs.

Message received.

Detroit didn’t even need a big night from star Cade Cunningham (11 points, 22 minutes) to dominate.

Brunson wouldn’t use the excuse of facing the exhaustion of carrying an eight-game winning streak and playing not long after Wednesday’s win over the Nuggets.

“It’s not an excuse for what happened today. [The Pistons] played last night. We had a day off. Obviously. we traveled. But there’s no excuse what happens prior to the game,” Brunson said. “You got to come here, you got to be professional, you got to do your job. But we just didn’t do our job well enough tonight.”

The Knicks, meanwhile, carried the posture of punting this game. Jose Alvarado, the new acquisition, didn’t join the team in Detroit. He’ll likely meet the Knicks in Boston for Sunday’s game.

Karl-Anthony Towns sat because of an eye laceration. OG Anunoby was a late scratch because of toe soreness. Josh Hart started but limped off the court in the third quarter and never returned.

The Knicks said it was a right ankle injury, with no further update.

So the Knicks started rookie Mohamed Diawara and Mitchell Robinson and their offense fell off a cliff. Of course, the Pistons — a team that applies physicality and athleticism at levels above the Knicks — had a lot to do with the struggles.

In two games against the Pistons, the Knicks have averaged 85 points, with their total margin of defeat at 69.

It’s a potentially ominous sign considering the Knicks and Pistons could meet in the playoffs, whether in the second round or conference finals. But Brown doesn’t view it that way.

“I don’t look at regular-season games as a barometer because, come playoffs, it’s a different basketball game,” he said. “Especially when you talk about a seven-game series. I’ve been with different teams that went to the finals or played deep in the playoffs that lost the season series to teams and still won in the playoffs.

“I look at it as it’s our next game. It’s very important. These guys handed our lunch to us last time. And so, we need to come fighting. Those are things I’m looking for tonight.

“I don’t look at it like if we win, hey, we’re going to get them come playoff time. Or if they win, they’re going to get us come playoff time.”

The Knicks can fall back on history if we ever get to another playoff series against the Pistons. They were swept in the regular season by the Celtics last year but toppled them in the second round.

So there’s indeed hope no matter what happens in the regular season. But there’s no question the Knicks have looked utterly overmatched by Detroit in two ugly games.

On Friday, they managed just 17 points in the first quarter and 42 after the second. They trailed by 21 at the break, which ended, appropriately, with Brunson getting rejected at the buzzer by Paul Reed.

For the Knicks, it was awful to that point and didn’t get better.

MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) – Wisconsin health officials are investigating a case of measles confirmed in a person who traveled through Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport to Walworth County.

Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) officials said this case is linked to a confirmed case in another state. It comes as the DHS Wisconsin Monitoring Program found measles in untreated wastewater in Walworth County.

This is the first time measles had been found in wastewater in Wisconsin, health officials noted.

“This is a new public health surveillance method that was developed in advance quite a bit during the COVID pandemic. And scientists and public health laboratories around the country, around the world, realized that if we test for viruses, for the genetic material of viruses in wastewater, it can sometimes give us an early warning sign,” explained Dr. Ryan Westergaard, Chief Medical Officer, DHS Bureau of Communicable Diseases.

Dr. Westergaard says since July, they have been testing 44 sewer sheds, and this was the first positive measles detection.

The detection coincides with a case that was reported by someone currently isolating in Walworth County.

DHS stated this case was exposed to measles out of state and is not linked to cases in Dane County.

The person who tested positive for measles flew through Mitchell International Airport on January 29th, according to the City of Milwaukee Health Commissioner. He says the person was infectious during the flight.

Anyone who was at the Mitchell International Airport between 10:30 p.m. and 12:31 a.m. may have been exposed.

“We’ve been working with our partners at the state and with other health officers in the state of Wisconsin and the CDC to ensure that notification goes to the individuals that we are aware of that we’re on the plane,” explained Mike Totoraitis, City of Milwaukee Health Commissioner.

He says the individual flew on a Southwest Airlines flight WN266 from Phoenix to Milwaukee.

Totoraitis says people should check their vaccination status and monitor symptoms.

“Make surethey’reup to date because measles is very contagious. It’s more contagious than COVID and can be even deadly for children and those with a compromised immune system,” said Totoraitis

Totoraitis says the vaccine is highly effective, and people who are vaccinated do not need to quarantine.

Wisconsin DHS, City of Milwaukee Health Department, Walworth County Department of Health and Human Services and the City of Milwaukee Health Department are jointly investigating.

Click here to download the WMTV15 News app or our WMTV15 First Alert weather app.

Copyright 2026 WMTV. All rights reserved.