Migrants charged in grisly Chicago murder of man found dead, tied up

Two migrants have been charged in the killing of a 63-year-old man in Norwood Park, with police linking them to robbery, fraud and an attempted cover-up.

Prosecutors said Jefferson Ubilla-Delgado and Geiderwuin Bello Morales entered George Levin’s home on Jan. 26, bound and assaulted him and stole his phone and credit cards before attempting fraudulent purchases. 

The victim’s sister discovered his body hours later, leading police to track the suspects using surveillance footage, GPS data and phone records.

Ubilla-Delgado, who was wearing an Immigrations and Customs Enforcement GPS monitoring device, was arrested three days later and admitted to going to the home but claimed the encounter was consensual. Bello Morales was arrested after police intercepted his messages discussing a plan to flee to Wisconsin. 

Both suspects were charged with murder - other forcible felony and robbery of victim over 60 years old.

Timeline:

Prosecutors laid out a timeline in their court proffer of how the murder allegedly took place.

8:05 p.m. - Ubilla-Delgado and Bello Morales were seen on surveillance video leaving their apartment building with Bello holding a roll of duct tape

8:17 p.m. - Surveillance video captured Ubilla-Delgado and Bello Morales arriving at Levin's residence.

8:30 p.m. - Levin's sister who lived on the second floor, heard loud noises coming from the basement. She went to check on them and saw Bello Morales exiting her brother's bedroom. She asked Bello Morales where Levin was, and he assured her that he was okay and that he would have Levin call her. The sister then returned upstairs.

8:42 p.m. - Surveillance video captured Bello Morales and Ubilla-Delgado, walking away from the residence before getting into Ubilla-Delgado's Lexus and leaving the scene.

For the next two hours, the victim's sister tried to call him with no response. She texted her brother's phone and received messages brushing her off, prosecutors said.

10:48 p.m. - She went back downstairs and found the basement door locked and her brother's bedroom locked. She broke into the doors and found her brother dead on the floor, according to the court proffer.

The Crime Scene

Levin was found on the floor, "cold to the touch, his hands wrapped together in duct tape, his feet tied together with an electrical cord, a sock stuffed in his mouth and secured in place with duct tape, and his pants down," according to the proffer.

His sister called 911 and performed CPR until they arrived. Levin was pronounced dead at the scene. 

Prosecutors said he suffered a hemorrhage to the neck, a subdural hemorrhage to the head and rib fractures. The Cook County Medical Examiner's Office determined the cause of death was multiple injuries from assault and ruled the manner of his death a homicide.

At the crime scene, police discovered the victim's wallet and phone were missing. Police recovered a roll of duct tape and victims' iPad. A piece of duct tape was also recovered near where the suspects' Lexus was parked, according to court documents.

The Arrests

The backstory:

Police tracked the victim’s phone using an emergency trace and found that it was moving in sync with Ubilla-Delgado’s Lexus and his GPS ankle monitor. Surveillance footage confirmed the car’s license plate, linking it to Ubilla.

After leaving the crime scene, Ubilla-Delgado and Bello Morales used the victim’s phone to try registering a Samsung wallet, accessing his Yahoo account, and making expensive Amazon purchases, prosecutors said. Video also captured them at a vape shop on Lawrence Avenue, where Ubilla was seen holding the victim’s phone. Later, Bello Morales was caught on camera at a Montrose gas station, unsuccessfully trying to withdraw money from an ATM using the victim’s stolen credit cards.

The victim’s sister identified Bello Morales as the man she saw in the victim’s basement that night. Ubilla-Delgado and Bello's roommate and another witness, also identified both suspects from surveillance footage showing them leaving their apartment, approaching the victim’s house, and later using his phone.

Ubilla-Delgado was arrested Wednesday and his cellphone was recovered by police. Ubilla-Delgado told police they both had gone to Levin's home to have sex with him in exchange for his cellphone.

Ubilla-Delgado claimed that Bello Morales set up the meeting with the victim through Grindr. He said they tied up and beat the victim because that’s what he supposedly wanted. Ubilla-Delgado also admitted they left quickly after the victim’s sister came downstairs, saying they got suspicious of the situation. He insisted the victim locked the door himself after they left. Ubilla-Delgado admitted they both used the victim’s phone but blamed Bello Morales for stealing his credit cards.

A search of the victim’s iPad showed he had a Grindr account, but all messages after Jan. 2 had been deleted. Investigators found no evidence that the victim had ever offered sex for money or had any interest in rough or violent encounters.

While the suspects' roommate was at the police station on Thursday, Bello Morales called him and mentioned he was planning to go to Wisconsin. With Rodrigo’s permission, police monitored their messages and tracked Bello Morales' location, according to the court proffer.

Later that day, police arrested Bello Morales and found a cell phone on him. The phone had been factory reset, wiping all its data. After his arrest, Bello Morales asked for a lawyer.

Background

Multiple Chicago police sources told Fox News Ubilla-Delgado and Bello Morales are migrants, one from Venezuela and the other from Ecuador.

A top U.S. official told Fox News the migrants are believed to have crossed into the United States through the Texas border in the summer of 2023.

The Source: The information in this story came from court documents, the Chicago Police Department, the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office and FOX News sources.

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