Kelvin Ellis, a top administrator at East St. Louis City Hall, plotted to kill a witness in a federal vote fraud investigation, according to indictments opened Friday, which also accuse Police Chief Ron Matthews of apparently unrelated crimes. Matthews is accused of helping a former auxiliary police officer with a felony record regain a pistol that had been taken from him, and of lying about it. That auxiliary officer, Ayoub S. Qattoum, and Matthews' secretary, Janerra Carson-Slaughter, also were charged. The vote fraud and gun cases appeared to be unconnected. Court documents provide a narrow window on the accusations. Federal...
