Thread: Coroner: Fox Lake officer died of single gunshot wound

http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburb...909-story.html

Coroner: Fox Lake officer died of single gunshot wound

September 9, 2015 7:20 pm

Fox Lake Lt. Charles Joseph Gliniewicz died of a single devastating gunshot wound, Lake County Coroner Dr. Thomas Rudd said Wednesday.

Police have declined to discuss autopsy findings, and Rudd did not say where on the body the 52-year-old officer was wounded the morning of Sept. 1. Rudd also did not say if the officer suffered any other wounds.

That morning, Gliniewicz had radioed in to say he was going to pursue three men, and a short time later backup officers found him shot to death in a remote, marshy area of the semi-rural community.

His death prompted a large-scale manhunt involving hundreds of officers, helicopters and police dogs, and federal authorities were said to be analyzing surveillance video taken from the area that included images of three men. Tuesday, law enforcement officials said they had found the three men shown in the video and had ruled them out as suspects.

George Filenko, commander of the Lake County Major Crime Task Force, said Tuesday that police had not received a written autopsy report. Filenko said that police were investigating the case as a homicide, but that they were continuing to analyze the evidence and would not "discount a single thing."

But the coroner said Wednesday he can't finish the autopsy report until he receives further information from the police investigation.

"As it stands now, I cannot give a manner of death because I don't know what happened in terms of where did this bullet come from," Rudd said. "Right now, all unnatural deaths are up for suggestion. That means homicide, suicide, accident, undetermined."

Police have said they are withholding certain details about the case so as not to compromise the investigation.

Detective Christopher Covelli, a spokesman for the Lake County sheriff's office, said Wednesday that police were still waiting for the results of ballistics tests and other forensic analysis.

"There's still a lot of outstanding information," he said. "The investigation is still very active."

Lt. Charles Joseph Gliniewicz, a 30-year veteran of the Fox Lake Police Department, was shot and killed Sept. 1, 2015. Three suspects are being sought in a massive Lake County manhunt.

Authorities have not said whether they think Gliniewicz was killed with his own gun. But they did confirm that his gun was found near his body.

Also Wednesday, the village released a statement saying that, at the time of Gliniewicz's death, the village had been in the process of conducting an "inventory review" of Police Department procedures and equipment that was prompted by former Chief Michael Behan's retirement Aug. 28. Gliniewicz had "participated in this process," the statement said.

Behan had announced his retirement shortly after he was placed on leave as part of an internal investigation into how police handled a December 2014 arrest. Behan said this week that he chose to leave because it was time and that no one forced him out.

Wednesday's statement from the village said the "clean slate" review is "standard and considered a best practice whenever there is a change in leadership at a law enforcement agency." After the officer's death, the village "immediately made available to the Lake County Major Crime Task Force all the materials based on this review and other pertinent information in order to assist investigators."

When asked Tuesday if police were exploring any possible connection between Gliniewicz's death and the internal investigation stemming from the December incident, Filenko said, "We haven't ruled out anything."

Regarding the investigation into the officer's death, Filenko said Tuesday that officers have pursued some 185 leads but haven't found any other video that is "relevant to the investigation."

He also said DNA has been found at the scene of Gliniewicz's death that does not belong to the lieutenant. Authorities are checking to see whether they can match that DNA with profiles in law enforcement databases or those taken from other people they've interviewed during the investigation.

Filenko did not specify where the DNA was found, but he said it "raises a red flag" and is "relevant."

Behan and Fox Lake Mayor Donny Schmit also offered some clarity about whether Gliniewicz had been planning to retire at the time he was killed. Both the former chief and the mayor said Gliniewicz had talked about retiring soon but had not submitted any formal paperwork to that effect. Schmit said the officer had discussed the prospect of retiring at the end of the year but had also considered moving that up to the end of September.

Behan said Gliniewicz had also been a recent candidate for the job of police chief in Antioch, the officer's hometown. Antioch officials were not available to confirm that Wednesday. The village announced the hiring of a new chief, Steve Huffman, in August.

Gliniewicz was laid to rest Monday following a funeral attended by Gov. Bruce Rauner and thousands of officers from across the country. People lined the streets of Fox Lake and Antioch to watch a procession of police cars accompany the officer's remains to his gravesite.

News-Sun reporter Lauren Zumbach and freelance reporter Amanda Marrazzo contributed.

dhinkel@tribpub.com
Copyright © 2015, Lake County News-Sun

9/1/15

http://www.alipac.us/f19/illinois-po...anhunt-322757/

http://www.nbcchicago.com/investigat...326100651.html

Lake County Coroner Waiting on Evidence in Fox Lake Officer's Shooting

Lake County Coroner Thomas Rudd said he needs more information from police, before he agrees to sign off on how the officer died

It has now been eight days since Lt. Joseph Gliniewicz was found mortally wounded in a remote field in far northwest suburban Fox Lake. But it appears police are no closer to a break in the case than they were one week ago.

Indeed, there was a telling moment in a task force press conference Tuesday, where the chief of the Lake County Major Crimes Task Force, George Filenko, even corrected himself when he referred to the case as a murder investigation.

“Officers responded to back him up, and they found him murdered—I’m sorry, killed,” Filenko said.

Sources close to the investigation say police are still largely working with only one solid lead: Gliniewicz’s own declaration that he was pursuing three individuals, shortly before he was found. And Wednesday, Lake County Coroner Thomas Rudd said he needs more information from police, before he agrees to sign off on how the officer died.

“We obviously know that a bullet killed him,” Rudd told NBC5. “I can’t rule out a suicide. I can’t rule out an accident. And I can’t rule in a homicide.”

In other words, while Rudd knows what his own autopsy revealed, he still wants some evidence that another person, or persons, were involved.

“I can’t issue a manner of death until law enforcement gives me everything they have,” he said.

Rudd’s comments come a day after Filenko pointedly noted that he didn’t have a final autopsy report.

“Well, the coroner himself has not shared anything with us,” he said.

That’s true, Rudd notes, because the report has not been written. But he quickly added that police are armed with everything he knows at this point.

“Three of George Filenko’s task force members were at the autopsy,” he said. “He knows what we found.”

And now, he suggested, the key to issuing that report is in investigators’ hands, not his.

“We have no eyewitnesses, in regard to this officer being hit by this bullet," he said.

On Wednesday, Filenko acknowledged that he had task force members present, and said he did not disagree with Rudd’s assessment.

“In the past, typically, we receive a preliminary report,” he said. “Sometimes it’s better to have written factual information.”

There is much about the crime scene that has never been officially released. Rudd said he would not reveal officially how many times the officer had been shot, only that he died from a “single devastating gunshot wound,” and that he has not determined officially whether the officer was even shot at close range or from a distance.

For now, he said, he has to keep an open mind, but the case is still a murder investigation.

“Based on what is coming from law enforcement agencies, we are pursuing it as if it is a homicide,” he said. “If we are told later that they don’t have evidence of a homicide, then we have to consider the other manners of death, which could be suicide or accident.”

In the meantime, Filenko confirmed Wednesday that officers have yet to interview Gliniewicz’s family, a meeting they hope to set up within the next few days.

“We’re giving the family time to grieve,” he said. “Obviously we’ve got to respect the widow’s privacy.”

Published 4 hours ago

Source: http://www.nbcchicago.com/investigat...#ixzz3lIdgafFg
Follow us: @nbcchicago on Twitter | nbcchicago on Facebook

http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburb...909-story.html

Fox Lake officer's fatal wound was to his torso: coroner

Article in link above.

http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local...326489861.html

Coroner’s Comments on Fox Lake Officer's Shooting Put 'Entire Case at Risk': Police

Source: http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local...#ixzz3lOGEohpJ
Follow us: @nbcchicago on Twitter | nbcchicago on Facebook

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/l...914-story.html

Fox Lake officer's death is investigated as homicide or suicide, sources say

September 14, 2015 8:09 pm

Even as police probe the shooting death of Fox Lake Lt. Charles Joseph Gliniewicz as a homicide, they are also investigating whether it might have been a suicide, sources close to the investigation told the Tribune on Monday.

Publicly, the spokesman for the investigation, Detective Christopher Covelli of the Lake County sheriff's office, repeated Monday that authorities are looking at "every theory" but that they are "still pursuing this as a homicide."

Speaking on condition of anonymity, though, multiple sources close to the investigation said one of the theories being examined is whether the gunshot wound that killed the officer was self-inflicted.

The police investigation has been mostly opaque from the start, which law enforcement officials have said allows them an advantage as they work the case. That authorities have not ruled out suicide indicates the homicide investigation has not yet settled the question.

Covelli said the Lake County Major Crime Task Force continued Monday to follow up on leads as they await the results of DNA, gunshot residue and ballistic tests being conducted at local, state and federal laboratories.

"Every theory is being looked at. Nothing has been eliminated at this point," Covelli said.

Gliniewicz, a 30-year police veteran, died Sept. 1 after telling a dispatcher that he was going to pursue three subjects: two white males and a black male. Responding officers found him shot to death in a remote, marshy area. They recovered his .40-caliber service weapon nearby.

Last week, Lake County Coroner Thomas Rudd raised the possibility that the shooting was self-inflicted, saying he could not make a determination on the manner of the officer's death — whether homicide, suicide, accidental or undetermined — until he received further information from police.

On Monday, Rudd said he was compiling data and expected to finish a pathology report, possibly within the next few days.

"We are working right now on finalizing the report," Rudd said. "We have the results of our autopsy and ancillary tests and then will present them to the crime task force."

At that point, he said, he hopes to receive the additional laboratory results from the task force before making a final determination on the manner of death.

He hopes to review results from tests of DNA found beneath Gliniewicz's fingernails, as well as any gunshot residue on the body, he said.

Those tests are being handled by the task force, which sent the evidence to multiple labs "so we don't bog any one lab down," Covelli said.

Gliniewicz died of a single "devastating" gunshot wound to his torso, according to Rudd, who has declined to say if the officer sustained other wounds. Task force leaders later chastised him for releasing that information, saying he had jeopardized the investigation.

Authorities have withheld particular details about the shooting death, though in some cases it's not clear if they have the information or if they are still waiting for the answers themselves. They have not said, for example, whether Gliniewicz was shot with his own gun, and how close to his body his gun was found. They have revealed that "significant" DNA evidence belonging to someone other than Gliniewicz has been found at the crime scene — something that would not be unusual under any scenario — but not specifically where.

In recent days, authorities have revealed that multiple gunshots were fired at the scene but gave no details as to who fired the shots or how many there were.

In the early days of the probe, authorities emphasized the presence of surveillance video from the area that they said showed three men matching the description Gliniewicz gave of the three subjects he was pursuing.

Investigators then said they found and interviewed the men in the video but ruled them out as suspects.

Covelli said he is unaware of any additional video or surveillance tapes that have emerged in the investigation. But he said police are still looking for three suspects who fit the description Gliniewicz gave.

"We are back to looking for the two white men and one black man," Covelli said.

When asked what evidence police have that suggests that the shooting was a homicide, Covelli said, "we have the call that was made (by Gliniewicz) and the unknown DNA donor at the scene."

The task force has interviewed members of the Gliniewicz family. Covelli declined to comment on whether they provided any additional insight.

Lab tests will determine if the DNA can be used to identify a potential person of interest or be ruled out as unrelated.

"Ballistics will test that gun; it's going to test any potential rounds that have been located and discharged from a gun to determine if there is a match to the gun that was found," Covelli said, describing the tests as a "lengthy process" with no estimated timeline.

"There's a lot that goes into ballistics testing," he said. "It's more than the actual projectile, the projectile found or guns found," he said. "It's not like you do one test and you are done. … They will test it and then test it again to ensure the validity of the tests are 100 percent accurate."

They have a very deep slope to climb if they try to sell suicide to me. He was in pursuit, shot in the torso. How many suicides are done by gunshot to torso? Police cover-up of botched investigation? That one I could understand.

It will be clear one way or another once they get the ballistics and other forensics back.

Oak Lawn Man (EX-COP) Accused of Threatening Key Officials in Fox Lake Police Shooting Case: UPDATE

@ http://www.alipac.us/f19/illinois-po...anhunt-322757/

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/09/15...th-ill-police/

Authorities investigating possibility of suicide in death of Ill. police officer
Matt Finn

By Matt FinnPublished September 15, 2015 FoxNews.com

In a potentially stunning twist, authorities are investigating the possibility the Illinois police officer thought to have been gunned down in the line of duty instead might have killed himself in a staged suicide.

As Fox News first reported last week, two sources close to the case say evidence suggests the 30-year police veteran, Lieutenant Charles Joseph Gliniewiecz, 52, could have shot himself -- in what was originally described by police as an execution-style murder.

Now, as police continue to actively investigate the case as a homicide, they say they aren't ruling out suicide.

Sources tell Fox News two shell casings were found about 100 feet apart from each other near Gliniewicz’s body, which was discovered face down. His hand was in a gun position, the firearm “dropped at his body.”

One bullet hit Gliniewicz in his bulletproof vest. The second and fatal shot struck him underneath his vest, fired in a downward trajectory, near the heart. There was no sign of a struggle or defensive wounds—especially one to save his own life.

The Lake County Coroner, Dr. Thomas Rudd, told Fox News that Gliniewicz died from a “single, devastating” shot to the torso. He said he hasn’t made a ruling in the death and that suicide is a possibility.

Immediately after Gliniewicz was discovered, a massive manhunt ensued including hundreds of local, state and federal officers. The team extensively searched the area by foot and with helicopter and dog teams but found nothing.

Two weeks after the officer’s death there are more questions than answers as police remain tight-lipped. There have been no arrests. There are no witnesses, suspects or concrete leads in the death of the father of four, who was regarded as a pillar of the community and known as “G.I. Joe.”

The drama began on the morning of Tuesday, September 1 when Gliniewicz radioed in from a remote, marshy area near Fox Lake, Ill., that he was beginning a foot pursuit with three suspects, two white males and one black male. Shortly after that, his radio communication cut off—leaving police with minimal description of the men.

Minutes later, backup officers arrived and discovered Gliniewicz had been shot and killed. An enormous manhunt followed. Police quickly alerted the public to be on the lookout for the three suspects.

The FBI, ATF and Homeland Security participated in the investigation along with the Fox Lake Police Department, under the direction of Lake County Major Crimes Task Force Commander George Filenko.

The story gained national attention as teams of media crews flooded the quiet town.

In the following days, Filenko hosted a series of news conferences in which he told reporters and the anxious community that nearby traffic cameras and home surveillance systems captured video depicting what appeared to be the three suspects—but it would take time to verify what was on the tapes.

As the unsolved death investigation carried on into the Labor Day weekend, neighbors and tourists in the picturesque “Chain O' Lakes” area took to the streets and blue waters with caution. Three “cop killers” were on the run, but people weren’t quite sure who or what they should be looking for.

The tree-lined streets of the quaint community were lined with blue ribbons and signs in Gliniewicz’s honor. A long line formed at a print shop that was giving out free posters depicting Gliniewicz. A local Motorola company offered a $50,000 reward for a tip and information leading to an arrest.

The following Monday, Gliniewicz was given a ceremonial funeral attended by over 5,000 police officers from around the country. Thousands of mourners stood along the streets and in their yards as the procession of over 1,600 police cars took hours to drive the 18-mile route to the cemetery. Gliniewicz was hailed as a hero, the latest officer to be killed in the line of duty.

The next day, one week after Gliniewicz died, Filenko hosted his final news conference to date in which he told the public the three suspects who were caught on tape, as described in Gliniewicz’s radio call, were cleared. Receipts and affidavits showed they were not the cop killers.

Filenko said investigators still consider the officer’s death a homicide and were analyzing crucial DNA found at the crime scene—which they said does not belong to Gliniewicz. But he would not specify what it was.

As the mystery deepens and theories abound, police insist the investigation will be a “marathon not a sprint.”

Matt Finn is a Fox News correspondent based in the Chicago bureau.

_____________________________________