Thread: Fox Lake officer's death to be ruled suicide: law enforcement sources

9/1/15

Illinois police officer shot, prompting manhunt

Illinois police officer that spurred manhunt stole money, committed suicide

Aamer Madhani, USA TODAY 11:56 a.m. EST November 4, 2015

A northern Illinois policeman killed by gunshots in early September, whose death sparked a massive manhunt for clues, died of an apparent suicide, the Chicago Tribune reported on Tuesday citing law enforcement sources. USA TODAY



(Photo: Brian Hill, AP)

After months of treating the death of a popular cop who died while on patrol in a quiet town north of Chicago as a homicide, investigators reversed course Wednesday and announced they believe Lt. Charles Joseph Gliniewicz's death was, in fact, a suicide.

The Lake County Sheriff's Department said Fox Lake, Ill., officer Gliniewicz, 52, whose Sept. 1 death spurred a massive manhunt along the Illinois-Wisconsin border, died of self-inflicted gunshot wounds.

George Filenko, commander of the Lake County Major Crimes Task Force, told reporters Wednesday that investigators concluded Gliniewicz's death was a "carefully staged suicide" by an officer who was on the cusp of being discovered for embezzling money from the village's police department.

Filenko said that an investigation revealed Gliniewicz had stolen thousands of dollars from the police department's youth Explorer's program over several years which he spent on mortgage payments, a gym membership and adult web sites.

The commander added that an investigation, which included a review of bank records, emails and text messages, indicates criminal activity may have been committed by at least two other individuals. Federal investigators that assisted Lake County officers found that Gliniewicz also deleted thousands of text messages from his phone shortly before his suicide.

Filenko said that the village of Fox Lake had begun an audit of the Explorer's program prior to Gliniewicz's death. Text messages from Gliniewicz that investigators uncovered during their investigation suggested that the officer had become concerned that the village audit would uncover his malfeasance.

"Gliniewicz committed the ultimate betrayal to the citizens he served and the entire law enforcement community," Filenko said.

Gliniewicz intentionally staged the scene around where he died in "an attempt to mislead first responders and investigators," according to Filenko.

Investigators said at the time of Gliniewicz's death that he was patrolling in an industrial area in Fox Lake, when he radioed dispatch to say that he was going to check on suspicious activity he had spotted.

He described the suspects as two white men and a black man to dispatchers. Gliniewiciz called for backup, saying he was in a foot chase, but was not heard from again.

Authorities in Lake County, Ill. are expected to announce on Wednesday that death of Lt. Charles Joseph Gliniewicz was a suicide. (Photo: Lake County Sherrif's Department)


Officers responding to his call found his body. An intense manhunt involving hundreds of law enforcement officials, including U.S. marshals, FBI and ATF agents, failed to produce any arrests or identify the suspects. Authorities viewed surveillance video from several homes and businesses in the area and had said they hoped to develop clues that would lead them to the suspects.

Gliniewicz's death came in the midst of a spate of high-profile killings of police officers throughout the country, including the Aug. 28 shooting death of Harris County, Texas, Sheriff's Deputy Darren Goforth, who was fatally shot while was refueling at a Houston-area gas station.

Shannon Miles, 30, has been charged with capital murder.

On Aug. 26, police officer Henry Nelson was gunned down in Sunset, La. Two days earlier, Senior Trooper Steven Vincent, of the Louisiana State Police, was shot in the head and then taunted after he stopped to provide aid to a man whose truck was stuck in a ditch. Police said a witness to the fatal shooting heard the suspect tell the trooper after he shot him, "You're lucky, you are going to die soon."

USA TODAY Police officer killed north of Chicago; massive manhunt underway

The Illinois manhunt would disrupt train service and cancel school in the area on the day following the shooting as officers hunted for three men.

Days after Gliniewicz's death, Lake County Coroner Thomas Rudd said he couldn't rule out suicide as a possible cause of the officer's death. About a month after he died, investigators said he'd been shot once in his protective vest and once in the upper left area of his torso. Investigators determined that Gliniewicz's weapon was used in the shooting. On Wednesday, Rudd said he concurred with investigations that Gliniewicz killed himself.

But until now, investigators continued to treat the case as a homicide investigation.

Filenko said that Gliniewicz had intimate knowledge of staging crime scenes as part of his work with the youth Explorers program. That familiarity may have contributed to investigators being initially thrown off. Pieces of evidence, including some of the officer’s equipment, were spread over 300 feet at the crime scene and suggested a struggle had occurred.

"We were focusing on what we had in front of us, which was a police officer (who) was mortally wounded,” Filenko said.

Gov. Bruce Rauner and hundreds of police officers from across the nation were among thousands who paid their respects to Gliniewicz at a viewing and funeral service.

After his death, he was awarded his department's Medal of Honor and was remembered as a man dedicated to his family and job.

"He was reasonable, fair and just," his brother Michael told mourners. "My brother served every day, seven days a week, 24 hours a day. ... When we were growing up, we all knew Joe was a hero. Now the nation knows he's a hero."

Gliniewicz, an Army veteran, had been an officer for more than 30 years and was nearing retirement at the time of his death.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2...cide/75145690/