Crime & Safety
DuPage County, IL Murder Case: Man Gets Life Again After 31 Years
Wheaton, IL – A 49 year old man convicted of murdering two people inside a Glendale Heights apartment more than three decades ago has once again been sentenced to spend the rest of his life in prison,
By Nora Whitfield · 2026-11-13T16:02:29.755Z
Wheaton, IL – A 49 year old man convicted of murdering two people inside a Glendale Heights apartment more than three decades ago has once again been sentenced to spend the rest of his life in prison, following years of legal challenges and multiple sentencing hearings in DuPage County.
According to the DuPage County State's Attorney's Office, Judge Brian Telander resentenced Joseph Arrieta to natural life imprisonment Friday, Nov. 13, for the March 15, 1995, murders of Anthony Moore and Edward Riola.
Arrieta was 17 years old when he shot both men multiple times at close range while they were drinking beer and playing cards inside an apartment in Glendale Heights, a western Chicago suburb.
Investigators determined Riola was shot three times and Moore six times. Authorities said Arrieta returned to a bedroom and shot Moore again after discovering he was still alive.
A jury convicted Arrieta of both murders in March 1996, and he initially received a mandatory life sentence without parole.
However, a 2012 U.S. Supreme Court ruling prohibited mandatory life without parole sentences for juvenile offenders, requiring courts to reconsider such sentences individually.
Arrieta received another life sentence in 2017, which an Illinois appellate court upheld in 2021.
In October 2024, Judge Telander vacated that sentence after Arrieta successfully challenged the sentencing proceedings on due process grounds, allowing another hearing.
Friday's decision once again imposed natural life imprisonment , meaning Arrieta faces spending the remainder of his life behind bars.
DuPage County State's Attorney Robert Berlin welcomed the ruling, emphasizing accountability for the murders of Moore and Riola.
Arrieta had remained in custody at the DuPage County Jail while awaiting the latest sentencing hearing.
The decision marks another major chapter in a criminal case dating back more than 31 years.