Suicide of Joe Gliniewicz

On the morning of September 1, 2015, police lieutenant Charles Joseph "Joe" Gliniewicz of the Fox Lake, Illinois Police Department was found dead in a wooded area in Fox Lake. The incident gained national coverage as it was first believed that Gliniewicz was murdered by three unknown assailants. However, after two months of investigation, officials of the Lake County Major Crimes Task Force[1] concluded that Gliniewicz had actually committed a staged suicide after realizing that his many years of criminal activity would soon be exposed.[2][3][4][5]

Joe Gliniewicz
Born
Charles Joseph Gliniewicz

(1963-08-25)August 25, 1963
Libertyville, Illinois
DiedSeptember 1, 2015(2015-09-01) (aged 52)
Fox Lake, Illinois
42°23′14″N 88°10′21″W
Cause of deathSelf-inflicted gunshot wounds
Burial placeHillside East Cemetery
Antioch, Illinois
42°28′49″N 88°03′56″W
NationalityAmerican
Other names"G.I. Joe"
Alma materKaplan University
OccupationPolice officer
Years active1985–2015
EmployerFox Lake Police Department
Fox Lake, Illinois

Background

Joe Gliniewicz was born in Libertyville, Illinois. He attended Marmion Military Academy before enlisting in the United States Army. In 1985, he joined the Fox Lake Police Department. At the time of his death, he held the rank of lieutenant and was scheduled to retire in approximately one month after a nearly thirty year career. He also attended Kaplan University and remained in the United States Army Reserve from 1980 until 2007, separating with the rank of first sergeant.[6] Gliniewicz was in charge of the Fox Lake Police Explorer program Post 300,[7] an organization mentoring youth interested in law enforcement careers. He gained the nickname "G.I. Joe" due to his perceived "All-American" image and physical resemblance to the action figure character of the same name. At the time of his death he resided in Antioch, Illinois with his wife of 26 years, Melodie, and their four sons.

The Fox Lake Police Department is located in Fox Lake, Illinois, a village in Grant and Antioch townships in Lake County and Burton Township in McHenry County, Illinois.[8] It is a community of about 10,000 nestled into the Chain O'Lakes and sits approximately 60 miles north of Chicago.

Incident

At 7:52 a.m. on September 1, 2015, Gliniewicz radioed to dispatch that he was pursuing three men, described as two white and one black, at an abandoned cement plant in suburban Fox Lake. At 8:09 a.m., officers responding to his request for backup discovered his deceased body in a marsh about 50 yards from his vehicle. According to reports, the first bullet from his .40 caliber semi-automatic handgun had struck his mobile phone and ballistic vest while the second pierced his upper chest. His head was scraped and bruised. The swampy terrain was otherwise undisturbed, and his handgun was not found for more than an hour, even though it was less than three feet from his body.[9] Other pieces of his police equipment, including his radio, taser, and pepper spray, were found scattered nearby in the marsh as well.

Manhunt

A massive manhunt was launched for these three male suspects, involving some 400 law enforcement officers on foot, via vehicles, helicopters, drones, and on horseback.[10] Local law enforcement were also assisted by federal agencies including the ATF and FBI.[11]

On the evening of September 2, a 30 year old woman named Kristin Kiefer of Vernon Hills, Illinois contacted police to report that while she was pulled over on the side of the road in Volo, Illinois, two men, one white and one black, approached her from a cornfield and tried to steal her car prompting her to flee from them on foot. Nearly 100 state and local law enforcement authorities set up roadblocks and searched the area along with 11 police K-9 and three air units from around 9:30 p.m. Wednesday until around 2:30 a.m. Thursday. The search took officers through the dense Volo Bog State Natural Area after canines mistakenly tracked a deer. Kiefer later admitted to fabricating the entire story and she was arrested and charged with two counts of disorderly conduct for falsifying a police report.[12] In May 2017, she was convicted, placed on probation, and ordered to pay $20,000 in restitution.[13]

Reaction

A large crowd gathered at a vigil on September 2 at the Lakefront Park in Fox Lake. His wife and sons spoke to the crowd.[14] On September 3, the Chicago Bears displayed a tribute to Gliniewicz during a preseason game.[15] Thousands of people, including hundreds of law enforcement officers and officials from around the country, attended the funeral in Antioch on September 7. His funeral procession from Antioch Community High School, to Fox Lake, and back to Antioch, was 18 miles in length. Thousands of people took to the streets to view the procession and show their support, many of them waving Thin Blue Line and American flags.[16] Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner, who attended the funeral, ordered flags to half-staff.[17] Many early reactions blamed Gliniewicz's death on a "war on cops" and Black Lives Matter movement, which had become prevalent the previous year during the Ferguson unrest.[18][19]

In the weeks following the incident, Joseph Battaglia, a former Chicago police officer, began calling police agencies and media outlets insisting that Gliniewicz had shot himself intentionally. On September 13, Battaglia was charged with disorderly conduct after threatening officials for not declaring Gliniewicz' death a suicide.[20][21]

Investigation

The investigation concluded in November 2015 that Gliniewicz had been embezzling money for at least seven years from the Fox Lake Police Explorer program. He believed that this crimes were about to be exposed and that his death had been a "carefully staged suicide."[10] He had also tried to induce a high ranking gang member to kill village administrator, Anne Marrin, who was conducting a financial audit of his police explorers program.[22][23]

Further incidents involving Gliniewicz were also uncovered including him threatening an emergency dispatcher with a gun, allegations of sexual harassment, alcohol abuse and numerous suspensions.[24] Over 6,500 deleted text messages were also recovered detailing some of his criminal activities, including his desire to "take out" the village administrator. Financial statements were also discovered revealing that he had embezzled a five-figure sum from the explorer program and spent it on things such as vacations, mortgage payments, gym memberships and pornography. Investigators also discovered large stockpiles of military surplus gear in his police explorer headquarters such as kevlar helmets, radios, ballistic vests, combat boots, gas masks and gun belts by the hundreds. Authorities stated it would have been impossible for Gliniewicz to provide documentation for these items because he had been obtaining the gear through fraud and that these surplus items are meant for use by actual police officers, not explorers.[25] The Fox Lake Police Explorer Post 300 was disbanded following the incident.[26] Once news of this betrayal came to light, numerous organizations that had raised or donated money for the Gliniewicz family demanded it be returned.[27] Tributes and memorials were quickly removed and the largest, which had been constructed in front of the Fox Lake Police Department, was altered, with a memorial sign using his nickname "G.I. Joe", now labeling him as "G.I. Joke". The Washington D.C.-based Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund said Gliniewicz's name would no longer be etched onto a marble monument dedicated to fallen officers.[28] Gliniewicz quickly went from "hero to criminal".[29]

On January 27, 2016, Gliniewicz's wife, Melodie, was indicted on four counts of disbursing charitable funds without authority and for personal benefit, and two counts of money laundering;[30] she pled not guilty to these charges.[31] On February 2, 2016, authorities seized five bank accounts believed to be derived from embezzled funds.[32] In June 2020, a Judge ordered the text messages exchanged between Melodie and her late husband to be admissible evidence. The case remains open in the appellate court with a trial date pending.[33]

Just the first three weeks of the investigation cost taxpayers in 50 suburban jurisdictions more than $300,000 to pay local law enforcement personnel working on the case, according to the Daily Herald. Nearly two-thirds of the cost, $196,351, were related to overtime, including pay for some officers attending Gliniewicz's funeral on Labor Day.[34]

References
  1. "Major Crime Task Force". lakecountyil.gov. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  2. Wagner, Laura (September 2, 2015). "Dragnet Expanded For 3 Suspects In Killing Of Illinois Police Officer". NPR. Retrieved November 4, 2015.
  3. Peralta, Eyder (November 4, 2015). "Investigation Finds Illinois Cop At Center Of Manhunt Shot Himself". NPR. Retrieved November 4, 2015.
  4. Black, Lisa (November 4, 2015). "Sources: Fox Lake officer's death a suicide". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved November 4, 2015.
  5. Miller, Michael (November 4, 2015). "Reports: Illinois cop whose shooting sparked nationwide outrage actually killed himself". Washington Post. Retrieved November 4, 2015.
  6. Martinez, Michael (26 January 2016). "The secret life of 'G.I. Joe'". CNN. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  7. "Fox Lake Police Explorer Post 300". Facebook.com. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  8. "Geographic Identifiers: 2010 Demographic Profile Data (G001): Fox Lake village, Illinois". U.S. Census Bureau, American Factfinder. Archived from the original on February 12, 2020. Retrieved November 5, 2015.
  9. Babwin, Don (4 November 2015). "Hero' officer staged suicide, embezzled from youth program". Associated Press. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  10. Castillo, Mariano (4 November 2015). "Death of Fox Lake, Illinois, officer a 'carefully staged suicide'". CNN. Retrieved November 4, 2015.
  11. Ortiz, Erik (2 September 2015). "Manhunt Continues for Suspects in Killing of Fox Lake, Illinois, Police Officer". ABC News. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  12. Hernandez, Jade (3 September 2015). "Woman charged after lying about spotting Fox Lake suspects in Volo, authorities say". ABC7 Chicago. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  13. Berger, Susan (8 May 2017). "Woman who claimed she saw Fox Lake police shooting suspects gets probation". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  14. "Wife of Slain Illinois Police Officer Joseph Gliniewicz Says 'He Was My Hero' at Vigil". NBC News. 2 September 2015. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  15. Rhodes, Dawn (7 September 2015). "Daylong salute held for fallen Illinois officer". Associated Press. AlbuquerqueJournal. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  16. Shapiro, Emily (7 September 2015). "Mourners Line the Streets for Slain Fox Lake Cop's Funeral". ABC News. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  17. McLaughlin, Eliott C.; Almasy, Steve (7 September 2015). "Fox Lake officer laid to rest in Antioch, Illinois". CNN. Retrieved 6 November 2015.
  18. "KING: Black Lives Matter was blamed for Gliniewicz's suicide". NY Daily News. Retrieved 2016-12-02.
  19. Balko, Radley (2015-11-05). "A partial list of pundits, politicians and media outlets who used Joseph Gliniewicz's death to push the 'war on cops' narrative". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2016-12-02.
  20. Black, Lisa (September 13, 2015). "Ex-cop charged with threatening officials in Fox Lake officer shooting case". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 6 November 2015.
  21. Sanchez, Ray (September 15, 2015). "Fox Lake officer's killing: Feds reduce involvement in Joe Gliniewicz case". CNN. Retrieved November 6, 2015.
  22. "Official: Cop Who Killed Himself Sought to Have Village Administrator Killed". WMAQ-TV. November 5, 2015. Retrieved November 5, 2015.
  23. Johnson, Alex (5 November 2015). "Fox Lake Lt. Joseph Gliniewicz Tried to 'Put a Hit' on Administrator: Police". NBC News. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  24. Babwin, Dan; Webber, Tammy (November 6, 2015). "Personnel records show years of complaints against officer". AP.org. Associated Press. Retrieved November 7, 2015.
  25. Rogers, Philip (12 November 2015). "Fox Lake Authorities Investigating Stockpile of Military Items in Gliniewicz Explorer Post". NBC Chicago. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  26. Zumbach, Lauren (8 December 2015). "Fox Lake disbands Gliniewicz's Explorers youth policing group". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  27. Castillo, Mariano (4 November 2015). "Death of Fox Lake, Illinois, officer a 'carefully staged suicide'". CNN. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  28. "Illinois village shocked, dismayed over news about officer". Associated Press. Peoria Public Radio. 5 November 2015. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  29. Reynolds, Dean (4 November 2015). "How investigators unraveled Illinois cop's suicide plot". CBS News. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  30. Goudie, Chuck Hope, Leah (January 27, 2016). "Grand Jury Indicts Fox Lake Officer Widow Melodie Gliniewicz", WLS-TV. Retrieved February 3, 2016
  31. Relerford, Michelle (February 3, 2016). "Fox Lake Widow Pleads Not Guilty to Laundering, Misuse of Charitable Funds", WMAQ-TV. Retrieved February 3, 2016
  32. "Authorities seize 5 bank accounts tied to Fox Lake cop's widow", Chicago Tribune, February 2, 2016. Retrieved February 3, 2016
  33. Smith, Katie (26 June 2020). "Melodie Gliniewicz's case will return to Lake County court after appellate ruling". Lake County Journal. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  34. "Taxpayers Footing $300K Bill For Investigation Into Fox Lake Officer's Death". chicagoist. 7 October 2015. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
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