Brother of retired judge found guilty in double murder

The brother of a retired Cook County judge was found guilty Thursday of murdering his sister and her husband in the couple’s Country Club Hills home.

Jurors deliberated for a less than two hours before reaching a verdict in the case of Kenneth Rhodes, who prosecutors alleged murdered his sister and brother in-law, Nathaniel Bracy, 64, and Pauline Betts-Bracy, 54, in a dispute over ownership of the south suburban condo where all three lived.

The four-day trial was held at the Leighton Criminal Courthouse in Chicago rather than the courthouse in Markham, where Rhodes’ brother, James L. Rhodes had served as judge.

Kenneth Rhodes shot Bracy and Betts-Bracy, authorities said at the time.

Rhodes, a convicted felony with a long criminal history that predated his arrest for murder, was heard saying on his cellphone that “if I can’t have this house no one can,” authorities said.

The retired judge, who was barred from attending most of the trial because prosecutors identified him as was a potential rebuttal witness, declined to comment on the verdict.

Contributing: Mitch Dudek