Newly released court documents paint a deeply disturbing picture of the alleged killing and dismemberment of 38 year old Dalewayne Turner of Plainfield, the same man whose arm was discovered by boaters in Lake Mattoon on Sunday, June 28th, 2026.
Turner’s wife, Robin Turner, 62, and his half-brother, James Adams, 26, have both been charged with concealment of a homicide and dismembering a human body. Both remain in custody, and additional charges are likely to come.
According to court documents, the alleged killing took place around June 21st, 2026, at the home the three shared on Ruth Fitzgerald Drive in Plainfield, Illinois. Robin Turner told police that on that Sunday, Dalewayne and Adams had a verbal argument over sports cards before Dalewayne said he was going to stay with a friend in Kankakee. When she returned home, he was gone… but she now noticed a faint smell of bleach.
Adams allegedly told Turner’s brother that Dalewayne had entered the home and become physically violent. Adams claimed he grabbed a knife and stabbed Turner multiple times. According to the brother, the pair were initially unsure what to do, and that was when they decided to dismember the body and store it in a freezer.
The trail of evidence began to pile up just days later. Surveillance cameras caught the pair at a Menards in Crest Hill, Illinois on June 23rd, purchasing 20 bags of concrete. That same day, license plate reader or “FLOCK” cameras showed their truck with bags of concrete in the bed. By June 26th, cameras in Mahomet picked up the truck again but this time with two duct-taped tote bags in the bed. About 45 minutes later in Mattoon, those totes were gone. Those same totes were later recovered less than a mile from where Turner’s partial remains had been found.
On the night of June 28th, Adams seemingly went to our Mattoon Walmart, where surveillance footage shows him purchasing weights, duct tape, and a change of clothes. Adams can then be seen changing in the bathroom and discarding his old clothes in a dumpster. Those same clothes were recovered from Mattoon Walmart’s dumpsters.
The case broke open on the evening of June 30th when Turner’s own brother called 911 after the pair told him what had happened. He told police Adams had said to him directly “I killed Dale. He is in the freezer.” The brother hugged Adams when he left, then immediately called police.
Officers followed the truck to Munster, Indiana and back to Plainfield, Illinois, conducted a traffic stop and detained both suspects. When Adams was interviewed at the station, he reportedly invoked his right to remain silent. The problem for Adams? He told case investigators just minutes prior “the one thing I will say is that I did it, but I did it out of self-defense.”
A search warrant was then issued for the home the three had previously shared and on July 1st, investigators came upon a downstairs freezer that had been locked shut with duct tape, covered with a blanket, and weighed down with cinder blocks. Inside, they found Turner’s torso, head, and neck. Red stains were found throughout the home, and there was evidence of recent remodeling. One can assume this would be blood that had been attempted to be cleaned. An additional twist to the case came when Turner’s cell phone was recovered from the truck.
Robin Turner’s phone revealed text exchanges with Adams discussing dollies and cleaning supplies. One message allegedly from Robin stated, “be sure to fully delete everything.” Her Google history on that same phone dating back to June 2nd included searches about: overdose deaths, whether a body needs to be embalmed, and “concrete mixer,” among others linked to hiding the long-deceased body of her husband.
Detention hearings for both suspects are scheduled this week. The state has filed a motion to detain. It is highly likely the pair will remain behind bars.
This is the same case that drew lots attention from us Mattoon residents earlier this month when Illinois State Police released photos of Dalewayne’s tattoos, most notably a skeleton holding a Green Bay Packers helmet, in hopes of identifying the victim. Tips from the public ultimately helped confirm the remains belonged to Turner and led to the arrest of his wife Robin and half-brother James.
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