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Burns charged with attempted kidnapping of state's attorney

Brian Burns is facing three new charges and an additional $10 million bail.

The 56-year-old Harrisburg resident is accused of attempting to pay undercover Saline County Sheriff's Office detective, David Blazier, $1,000 to kidnap Saline County State's Attorney Mike Henshaw.

The new charges carry $10 million bail or $1 million cash bond.

Henshaw filed three charges against Burns in Saline County Court on Wednesday: solicitation, conspiracy to commit aggravated kidnapping, and attempted aggravated kidnapping.

Solicitation is a Class X felony that carries between 6-30 years in the state penitentiary. Conspiracy to commit aggravated kidnapping and attempted aggravated kidnapping are both Class 1 felonies that carry between 4-15 years in the state penitentiary.

The state defines aggravated kidnapping as, "Kidnaps with the intent to obtain ransom from the person kidnapped or from any other person" and ransom "includes money, benefit, or other valuable thing or concession."

The charges came about after an investigation by the Illinois State Police, Saline County Sheriff's Office, Saline County State's Attorney's Office, and other entities that began in July and lasted until Tuesday, Sept. 13.

According to Henshaw, the new charges could possibly become a separate case for Burns, not connected to the charges for which he was originally taken into custody. Separating the new charges from his original charges could result in a separate trial, Henshaw said.

Burns was originally taken into custody in March of this year on two counts of first-degree murder and one count of concealment of a body in connection with the death of his estranged wife, Carla Burns. He is accused of shooting Carla to death and burning her corpse to destroy her body.

If the new charges are tried as a separate case, Judge Walden Morris would preside over it, Henshaw stated, unless he recuses himself. When it came to prosecuting the case, Henshaw said that he wanted to "examine all of the alternatives," before deciding whether or not to bring in a special prosecutor for the new charges against Burns.

"That has not been ruled out," he said.

Henshaw did state that he would not recuse himself from the original case against Burns.

Burns' attorney, Nick Brown, with the Lawler-Brown law firm in Marion did not return a call for comment by press time.