Man convicted in Collinsville Starbucks rape challenges ‘illegal’ interrogations
The man convicted last month in connection with a 2022 kidnapping and rape that began at a Collinsville Starbucks is asking the judge for a new trial.
In a June 1 motion, the Madison County public defenders representing Timothy J. Dubois Jr., 42, of Fayette County, Illinois, said the jury should not have been allowed to see a confession video or an apology letter.
They argued police obtained the evidence through illegal interrogations.
Defense attorneys also said the prosecution’s evidence was insufficient.
The Madison County State’s Attorney’s Office accused Dubois of entering a 21-year-old woman’s car armed with a knife and telling her to drive to a more remote area in Troy, where he raped her. She had been waiting for a mobile order at the Starbucks in the Collinsville Crossing shopping center on the morning of Nov. 11, 2022.
It is the Belleville News-Democrat’s policy not to name victims of sexual abuse.
Key evidence in the case was DNA from a discarded condom. Police found it using location data from the victim’s Apple Watch.
Investigators linked the DNA to Dubois through a commercial genetic genealogy database his relatives used to trace their ancestry, and through family photos they shared on social media. Police obtained a sample of Dubois’ DNA from a cheek swab, and tests showed it matched the condom DNA.
Law enforcement witnesses also testified about other evidence. They said Dubois drove a car resembling the vehicle seen circling Collinsville Crossing the morning of the crime; he was identified in a photo lineup; he confessed to the crimes when questioned by police; and he wrote an apology letter to the victim.
Assistant Public Defender Kane McClellan argued the condom DNA was exposed to the elements for a week before it was collected and pointed to evidence the prosecution did not have, including video of the abduction.
After about 90 minutes of deliberations May 7, the jury found Dubois guilty on 10 counts of sexual assault and kidnapping charges.
Confession tape debate
Public Defender Mary Copeland filed a motion before trial to suppress Dubois’ videotaped confession and handwritten letter.
Police interrogated him once in Vandalia when he was arrested and again in Collinsville the following day. Copeland said he invoked his right to remain silent near the end of the first interrogation and his right to have a lawyer present at the start of the second.
She argued police “unlawfully continued” when they should have terminated the questioning.
Madison County Circuit Judge Tim Berkley denied the motion to suppress, arguing Dubois’ statements were not “clear and unequivocal,” according to an April 10 order that included the judge’s description of the videotaped interrogations.
“Approximately 55 minutes into the interrogation, the defendant appeared frustrated with detectives’ repetitive and circular questioning about the defendant’s whereabouts and participation in the abduction and rape,” the order states. “The defendant stated, ‘I’m done answering that question.’ The defendant later reiterated, ‘I’m done.’”
Berkley concluded Dubois meant he wanted to stop answering the same question, not that he wanted all questioning to stop. The judge noted that Dubois continued speaking to detectives after making those statements.
Before the second interrogation started, Dubois complained about not being able to call an attorney or his family from his jail cell, according to Berkley’s order. It came up when a detective asked Dubois to read each of his constitutional rights on a form, including the right to consult with counsel.
“The officer, in clarifying the defendant’s complaint, specifically asked the defendant, ‘You understand that is your option, right?’” the order states. “The defendant immediately initialed…and signed the form, signaling his election to proceed.”
Copeland argued Dubois did not fully understand he was waiving his rights due to his “physical, physiological, mental, emotional, educational and psychological state, capacity and condition” at the time.
Berkley rejected that argument in part because Dubois told police he had an associate degree in criminal justice.
The judge has not yet ruled on Copeland’s motion for a new trial, which asks him to reconsider his April decision.
Dubois’ sentencing has not been scheduled. He faces up to 80 years in prison, according to the state’s attorney’s office.
The victim has filed a lawsuit seeking damages from Dubois, as well as Starbucks and David Witzling, the Collinsville location’s owner, over allegations of negligence.
Starbucks and its local owner denied the allegations in court documents, arguing they are not liable and that the damages were caused solely by Dubois.
She says in the complaint that she has incurred expenses from medical treatment and counseling, lost wages and “lost the enjoyment of her life as it existed prior to November 11, 2022.”
BND reporter Madison Lammert contributed information to this report.
This story was originally published June 9, 2026 at 5:30 AM.
