The 911 Call About Mathew Nellessen After He Killed His Father

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In newly released 911 calls, the sister-in-law of George Nellessen describes how his girlfriend found the terrible scene that launched a police chase and the eventual arrest of Nellessen's own son for his murder.

A panicked, seven-minute 911 call came into Northwest Central Dispatch at 8:39 a.m. on April 12 from Nellessen's sister-in-law, identified in the tape only as Terry. She was on a speakerphone with Nellessen's girlfriend, Nancy, who had gone to Nellessen's Arlington Heights home to check on him after he failed to show up for work.

She went in there and said that my brother-in-law is dead," Terry says on the tape, choking back tears.

She tells dispatchers that her nephew, George Nellessen's son Mathew, wouldn't let Nancy in the home initially.

Nancy, who is standing outside the home throughout the call, tells Terry that Mathew Nellessen is pulling out of the house as Terry is talking to the dispatcher.

"He's leaving right now! He's leaving right now!" she frantically tells dispatchers. Mathew Nellessen fled in his Grand Marquis right after the call was placed. His car was later spotted by a Schaumburg police officer on Algonquin Road, and a police chase ensued all the way to East Dundee, where Nellessen was stopped and arrested after his tire was damaged.

On the tape before Mathew Nellessen flees, the dispatcher is heard asking Terry if she believes that he killed his father. Terry answers, "Yes, yes."

She then tells the dispatcher that Mathew Nellessen has "drug issues" and describes him as being a "drug person."

"My nephew is in the house, and we think he's the one that did it," she says.

She tells the dispatcher that George Nellessen is in the basement tied to a chair. She also tells police she thinks he's been beheaded, though this apparently did not turn out to be the case. Police allege that Mathew Nellessen hit his father in the head with a baseball bat, which was not recovered, five times and then stabbed him in the neck twice.

She is asked if there are weapons in the house but she says that the girlfriend is too hysterical to speak. Police arrive shortly after at 8:45 a.m. and the call ends.

Mathew Nellessen, 19, and three alleged accomplices were later charged with the murder of his father. Nellessen is being held in jail without bond.