MONROE — Law enforcement authorities aren’t necessarily coordinating their activities to keep the boyfriend of a missing Monticello mother in jail while a larger investigation into her disappearance continues, officials said Thursday.
There’s so many cases, they say, it just might seem that way. The in-and-out status of Hammer in three jails in two states in as many months, has many people following the case closely wondering. Hammer’s been repeatedly charged with bail jumping for allegedly violating a number of conditions of bond; and a recent arrest in Carroll County on new charges related to alleged threats to a neighbor.
It can seem confusing to many, especially amid the din of social media speculation, but nonetheless, as of late Thursday Derek Hammer, of Shannon, Ill. finds himself in jail, once again, in Green County.
“There is not a coordinated effort to keep him in custody, which should be fairly evident given the fact that at the time of his most recent arrest he was free on cash bail at the time he was alleged to have committed the offenses in Shannon, Illinois,” said District Attorney Craig Nolen.
Nolen hasn’t commented much on the lingering Trumpy case, instead focusing on the existing charges again Hammer here. He maintains that, like all defendants, Hammer is innocent until proven guilty in court. The case has generated many local and some national headlines.
Hammer faces of a host of charges mostly in Green but also in Stephenson and now, Carroll County. That’s where he allegedly threatened to kill a neighbor about a week after posting bond on one of his other cases in Green County.
“(Hammer) knocked right on the front door,” said Crystal Preston, adding that Hammer was there accusing her husband Kenneth of bothering his mother, Denise, who also is the village clerk in Shannon, Ill.
Well before that, Hammer also spent most of 2022 and part of 2021 in Green County jail on multiple charges and has posted nearly $50,000 in bond money in various jurisdictions.
Authorities said that just before she vanished, the 37-year-old Trumpy set out in her car for Hammer’s home in Shannon, Ill. Hammer also faces charges in Illinois. For her part, Trumpy at one point also was charged in Green County with various felonies stemming from her time with Hammer.
Green Country charges against Hammer include bail jumping, possession of cocaine with intent to deliver; possession of THC with intent to deliver, maintaining a drug trafficking place, and possession of a firearm as a felon.
In his most recent court appearance on April 5 in Green County Circuit Court, Hammer pleaded not guilty to the felony bail jumping charges. He is scheduled to appear again on April 14 before Rock County Circuit Judge Ashley Morse. Hammer has repeatedly sought to have his cases heard by a judge other than those in Green County.
Trumpy is a white female, about 5-foot-10 and weighing about 160 pounds when she went missing. She has blue eyes, long blonde hair, several facial piercings and body tattoos.