John Finney was convicted after investigators linked his wife’s fatal shooting to their rural Mount Vernon home.
MOUNT VERNON, Ill. — A southern Illinois murder case that began with a possible homicide report and a search for a gray SUV has ended with a 75-year prison sentence for John W. Finney.
Finney, 52, was convicted of first-degree murder in the death of his wife, 42-year-old Amy J. Finney. Authorities said she was shot during a domestic dispute at the couple’s rural Jefferson County home, then found dead inside a Ford Escape after officers stopped the vehicle in Perry County. The sentencing gives the case its final trial-court outcome and sends Finney toward state prison custody.
The legal path started on the night of Sept. 1, 2025, when Jefferson County deputies received a report of a possible homicide at about 8 p.m. The report pointed them to a possible location in the 7500 block of North Illinois Highway 148 and included a description of a gray 2007 Ford Escape. That vehicle became the immediate focus of the search. Officers did not find Amy Finney at the residence first. Instead, the case turned on two parallel tracks: deputies checking the rural home and police looking for the moving vehicle across southern Illinois roads.
About an hour after the report, a Christopher police officer saw the Escape near Illinois Highway 14 and Illinois Highway 148. The officer followed it west on Highway 14 while waiting for other units. Deputies from Franklin County joined the effort, and officers conducted a stop in the 9000 block of Birch Road in rural Du Quoin. John Finney was detained. Officers from Du Quoin, the Perry County Sheriff’s Office and Illinois State Police also assisted. A protective sweep of the vehicle followed, and officers found Amy Finney dead inside the Escape, authorities said.
That discovery gave investigators a confirmed homicide victim and a suspect in custody. It also created a case spread across county lines. The body was found in Perry County, the suspected crime scene was in Jefferson County and several agencies had roles in the stop. The Perry County coroner responded to the roadside location and took custody of Amy Finney’s body. Illinois State Police crime scene technicians processed the vehicle. At the same time, Mt. Vernon police helped secure the Finney residence so Jefferson County detectives and state technicians could process the home for evidence.
The sheriff’s office later said the home evidence supported that the shooting happened there. In a public update, the office said preliminary evidence strongly supported that Amy Finney died from a gunshot wound during a domestic dispute with John Finney at their home. Authorities did not publicly describe the argument in detail. They did not say whether anyone else was present, whether neighbors heard anything or whether law enforcement had been called to the home before. Public reports also did not identify the person who made the initial report of a possible homicide.
Investigators obtained search warrants for the residence and the Ford Escape with assistance from the Jefferson County state’s attorney. Those warrants moved the case from emergency response into formal evidence gathering. Reports said court documents placed Amy Finney’s body in the hatchback of the Ford Escape. Regional news reports also said investigators believed John Finney killed his wife on Aug. 31, 2025, then drove for several hours with her body in the vehicle the next day. GPS data from his cellphone showed hours of driving around the county, according to those reports. Authorities have not released a full public map of those movements.
John Finney was 51 when he was arrested and booked into the Jefferson County Jail on a first-degree murder charge. Early reports said he was awaiting a pretrial detention hearing. The case later advanced through prosecution, and the presumption of innocence that applied at arrest ended with his conviction. By the time of sentencing in June 2026, Finney was 52. The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office announced that he had been sentenced to 75 years in prison. After the sentence was imposed, he was returned to jail to await transfer to the Illinois Department of Corrections.
The sentence is the most direct consequence now on the public record. It follows the court’s finding that Finney committed first-degree murder in Amy Finney’s death. The public reports do not list a separate sentence for any charge connected to the body being found in the vehicle. They also do not provide a detailed sentencing transcript, victim impact statements or defense remarks. What the record does show is the movement of the case through its main stages: a report, a search, a stop, a body found, search warrants, a murder charge, a conviction and a 75-year term.
The case also shows how the first hour shaped the investigation. A vehicle description allowed officers to watch for a specific Escape. A Christopher officer’s sighting kept the vehicle in view until backup arrived. The rural Du Quoin stop allowed police to detain Finney and recover Amy Finney’s body while Jefferson County deputies were still working the suspected home scene. The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office later thanked the agencies involved, including local police departments, county deputies and state police technicians. Their coordinated response provided the framework for the prosecution that followed.
Amy Finney’s family was notified by detectives, according to local reports. Beyond that notice, the public record gives few personal details about her. The official statements focused on the circumstances of her death and the evidence connecting it to the couple’s home. Her name now appears in court and law enforcement records as the victim in a murder case that crossed from a rural residence to a roadside stop. John Finney’s name appears in those records as the husband convicted and sentenced for killing her.
Finney remains in custody after sentencing and is expected to be transferred to the Illinois Department of Corrections. The next milestone is that prison transfer, which will begin the state custody portion of his 75-year sentence.
Author note: Last updated July 8, 2026.