Suicide of Joe Gliniewicz

Last updated
Joe Gliniewicz
Joe Gliniewicz selfie.jpg
Born
Charles Joseph Gliniewicz

(1963-08-25)August 25, 1963
Libertyville, Illinois, U.S.
DiedSeptember 1, 2015(2015-09-01) (aged 52)
Fox Lake, Illinois, U.S.
42°23′14″N88°10′21″W / 42.38722°N 88.17250°W / 42.38722; -88.17250
Cause of death Self-inflicted gunshot wounds
Burial placeHillside East Cemetery
Antioch, Illinois, U.S.
42°28′49″N88°03′56″W / 42.48028°N 88.06556°W / 42.48028; -88.06556
NationalityAmerican
Other names"G.I. Joe"
Alma mater Kaplan University
Occupation Policeman
Years active1985–2015
EmployerFox Lake Police Department
Spouse
Melodie Gliniewicz née Resetar
​
​
(m. 1989)​
Children4
Military career
AllegianceFlag of the United States.svg United States
Service / branchFlag of the United States Army.svg  United States Army [1]
Years of service1981–2007
Rank Army-U.S.-OR-08a.png First sergeant
Awards AirAssault.gif Air Assault Badge
DrillInstructBadge.gif Drill Sergeant Badge
Meritorious Service Medal ribbon.svg Meritorious Service Medal
Army Commendation Medal ribbon.svg Army Commendation Medal
Humanitarian Service Medal ribbon.svg Humanitarian Service Medal

On September 1, 2015, American police lieutenant Charles Joseph "Joe" Gliniewicz was found dead in a wooded area in Fox Lake, Illinois. The incident gained national coverage as it was initially believed that Gliniewicz was murdered by three unknown assailants. However, after two months of investigation, officials of the Lake County Major Crime Task Force [2] concluded that Gliniewicz had actually committed suicide that he staged to look like murder, after realizing that his many years of criminal activity would soon be exposed. [3] [4] [5] [6]

Contents

Background

Joe Gliniewicz was born in Libertyville, Illinois. He attended Marmion Military Academy and graduated from Antioch Community High School in Antioch, Illinois in 1981 before enlisting in the United States Army. [7] He was trained as a military police officer, drill sergeant, sniper, and in airborne assault. [8]

In 1985, he joined the Fox Lake Police Department (FLPD), the primary law enforcement agency for Fox Lake, Illinois, a village of about 10,000 nestled into the Chain O'Lakes that sits approximately 60 miles north of Chicago. [9] He was assigned as a patrol officer and received further training and certifications in special assignments including SWAT, police dog handling, and became a certified evidence technician. In 1996, he was promoted to sergeant and then lieutenant in 2006. [10] Gliniewicz was in command of the Fox Lake Police Explorer program Post 300, [11] an organization mentoring adolescents interested in law enforcement careers.

At the time of his death he was scheduled to retire in approximately one month after a nearly thirty year career. He previously obtained a master's degree from Kaplan University and remained in the United States Army Reserve from 1981 until 2007, separating with the rank of first sergeant. [12] He gained the nickname "G.I. Joe" due to his military background and perceived physical resemblance to the action figure character of the same name. [13] At the time of his death he resided in Antioch with his wife of 26 years, Melodie, and their four sons.

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 Fox Lake. At 8:09 a.m., FLPD officers responding to his request for backup discovered his deceased body in a wooded 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, despite it being less than one yard from his body. [14] 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. [15] Local law enforcement were also assisted by federal agencies including the ATF and FBI. [16]

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. [17] In May 2017, she was convicted, placed on probation, and ordered to pay $20,000 in restitution. [18]

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. [19] On September 3, the Chicago Bears displayed a tribute to Gliniewicz during a preseason game. [20] 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 High School to Fox Lake and back, 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 U.S. flags. [21] Then-Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner, who attended the funeral, ordered flags to half-staff. [22] Many early reactions blamed Gliniewicz's death on a "war on cops" and the Black Lives Matter movement, which had become prevalent the previous year during the Ferguson unrest. [23] [24]

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. [25] [26] Battaglia was later sentenced to one year of supervision after pleading guilty.

Investigation

The investigation concluded in November 2015 that Gliniewicz had been embezzling money for at least seven years from the police explorer program, that he believed that his crimes were about to be exposed, and that his death had been a "carefully staged suicide." [15] He had also tried to induce a high-ranking gang member to kill village administrator Anne Marrin, who was conducting a financial audit of the program. [27] [28]

Further incidents involving Gliniewicz were also uncovered including him threatening an emergency dispatcher with a firearm, allegations of sexual harassment, alcohol abuse and numerous suspensions. [29] 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. [30] The Fox Lake Police Explorer Post 300 was disbanded following the incident. [31]

Aftermath

Once news of this betrayal came to light, numerous organizations that had raised or donated money for the Gliniewicz family demanded it be returned. [32] 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 deceased officers, [33] and his Officer Down Memorial Page webpage was taken down. [34] Gliniewicz quickly went from "hero to criminal". [35]

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; [36] she pleaded not guilty to these charges. [37] On February 2, 2016, authorities seized five bank accounts believed to be derived from embezzled funds. [38] In June 2020, a judge ordered the text messages exchanged between Melodie and her late husband to be admissible evidence. On February 18, 2022, Melodie accepted a plea deal, being convicted of deceptive practice, a Class 4 felony in Illinois. The remainder of her charges were dismissed and on April 12, 2022, she was sentenced to two years of probation. [39] [40]

His son, Donald "D.J." Gliniewicz, was also under investigation after a series of texts were found between Gliniewicz and his son about loans and how he could evade discovery of unidentified expenses; however, the case was closed as investigators could not prove the son had prior knowledge that money from his father came from the youth program's account. [41] [42]

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. [43]

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References

  1. ↑ Abrams, Bob (12 September 2015). "Lieutenant Joe Gliniewicz should be remembered for the way he lived, not the way he died". Chicago Now. Tribune Publishing . Retrieved 18 February 2022.
  2. ↑ "Major Crime Task Force". lakecountyil.gov. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  3. ↑ Wagner, Laura (September 2, 2015). "Dragnet Expanded For 3 Suspects In Killing Of Illinois Police Officer". NPR . Retrieved November 4, 2015.
  4. ↑ Peralta, Eyder (November 4, 2015). "Investigation Finds Illinois Cop At Center Of Manhunt Shot Himself". NPR . Retrieved November 4, 2015.
  5. ↑ Black, Lisa (November 4, 2015). "Sources: Fox Lake officer's death a suicide". Chicago Tribune . Retrieved November 4, 2015.
  6. ↑ Miller, Michael (November 4, 2015). "Reports: Illinois cop whose shooting sparked nationwide outrage actually killed himself". Washington Post . Retrieved November 4, 2015.
  7. ↑ "Lt. Gliniewicz Laid To Rest: 'Now The Nation Knows He's A Hero'". chicago.suntimes.com. Chicago Sun-Times. 24 June 2016. Retrieved 1 March 2022.
  8. ↑ "Lt. Charles Joseph Gliniewicz personnel files". documentcloud.org. pp. 22–23. Retrieved 2 March 2022.
  9. ↑ "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.
  10. ↑ Gliniewicz personnel file pp. 22-23
  11. ↑ "Fox Lake Police Explorer Post 300". Facebook.com. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  12. ↑ Martinez, Michael (26 January 2016). "The secret life of 'G.I. Joe'". CNN . Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  13. ↑ Lowe, Mike (28 January 2016). "Widow of Fox Lake Police Lt. Joe Gliniewicz free on bond after indicted". wgntv.com. WGN-TV . Retrieved 1 March 2022.
  14. ↑ Babwin, Don (4 November 2015). "Hero' officer staged suicide, embezzled from youth program". Associated Press . Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  15. 1 2 Castillo, Mariano (4 November 2015). "Death of Fox Lake, Illinois, officer a 'carefully staged suicide'". CNN. Retrieved November 4, 2015.
  16. ↑ Ortiz, Erik (2 September 2015). "Manhunt Continues for Suspects in Killing of Fox Lake, Illinois, Police Officer". NBC News . Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  17. ↑ Hernandez, Jade (3 September 2015). "Woman charged after lying about spotting Fox Lake suspects in Volo, authorities say". ABC7 Chicago. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  18. ↑ Berger, Susan (8 May 2017). "Woman who claimed she saw Fox Lake police shooting suspects gets probation". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  19. ↑ "Wife of Slain Illinois Police Officer Joseph Gliniewicz Says 'He Was My Hero' at Vigil". NBC News. 2 September 2015. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  20. ↑ Rhodes, Dawn (7 September 2015). "Daylong salute held for fallen Illinois officer". Associated Press. AlbuquerqueJournal. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  21. ↑ Shapiro, Emily (7 September 2015). "Mourners Line the Streets for Slain Fox Lake Cop's Funeral". ABC News. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  22. ↑ McLaughlin, Eliott C.; Almasy, Steve (7 September 2015). "Fox Lake officer laid to rest in Antioch, Illinois". CNN. Retrieved 6 November 2015.
  23. ↑ "KING: Black Lives Matter was blamed for Gliniewicz's suicide". NY Daily News. Retrieved 2016-12-02.
  24. ↑ 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.
  25. ↑ Black, Lisa (September 13, 2015). "Ex-cop charged with threatening officials in Fox Lake officer shooting case". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 6 November 2015.
  26. ↑ Sanchez, Ray (September 15, 2015). "Fox Lake officer's killing: Feds reduce involvement in Joe Gliniewicz case". CNN. Retrieved November 6, 2015.
  27. ↑ "Official: Cop Who Killed Himself Sought to Have Village Administrator Killed". WMAQ-TV. November 5, 2015. Retrieved November 5, 2015.
  28. ↑ Johnson, Alex (5 November 2015). "Fox Lake Lt. Joseph Gliniewicz Tried to 'Put a Hit' on Administrator: Police". NBC News. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  29. ↑ Babwin, Dan; Webber, Tammy (November 6, 2015). "Personnel records show years of complaints against officer". AP.org. Associated Press. Retrieved November 7, 2015.
  30. ↑ Rogers, Philip (12 November 2015). "Fox Lake Authorities Investigating Stockpile of Military Items in Gliniewicz Explorer Post". NBC Chicago. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  31. ↑ Zumbach, Lauren (8 December 2015). "Fox Lake disbands Gliniewicz's Explorers youth policing group". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  32. ↑ Castillo, Mariano (4 November 2015). "Death of Fox Lake, Illinois, officer a 'carefully staged suicide'". CNN. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  33. ↑ "Illinois village shocked, dismayed over news about officer". Associated Press. Peoria Public Radio. 5 November 2015. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  34. ↑ "As many of ODMP's... - The Officer Down Memorial Page (ODMP)". Archived from the original on 2023-12-12. Retrieved 2025-01-18.
  35. ↑ Reynolds, Dean (4 November 2015). "How investigators unraveled Illinois cop's suicide plot". CBS News . Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  36. ↑ Goudie, Chuck Hope, Leah (January 27, 2016). "Grand Jury Indicts Fox Lake Officer Widow Melodie Gliniewicz", WLS-TV. Retrieved February 3, 2016
  37. ↑ Relerford, Michelle (February 3, 2016). "Fox Lake Widow Pleads Not Guilty to Laundering, Misuse of Charitable Funds", WMAQ-TV. Retrieved February 3, 2016
  38. ↑ "Authorities seize 5 bank accounts tied to Fox Lake cop's widow", Chicago Tribune , February 2, 2016. Retrieved February 3, 2016
  39. ↑ "Melodie Gliniewicz, widow of disgraced Fox Lake police officer, pleads guilty to deceptive practices". ABC7 Chicago. 18 February 2022. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
  40. ↑ "Melodie Gliniewicz sentencing: Widow of disgraced Fox Lake police Lt. Joe Gliniewicz sentenced to 24 months probation - ABC7 Chicago". 2023-04-12. Archived from the original on 2023-04-12. Retrieved 2023-05-07.
  41. ↑ "Not enough evidence to charge son of Illinois police officer". 27 January 2016.
  42. ↑ "Not enough evidence to charge Joe Gliniewicz's son, authorities say". CNN . 29 January 2016.
  43. ↑ "Taxpayers Footing $300K Bill For Investigation Into Fox Lake Officer's Death". chicagoist. 7 October 2015. Archived from the original on 14 November 2021. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
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