Just when you thought the tragic death of Fox Lake Police Lt. Charles Joseph “Joe” Gliniewicz could not get any sadder. It does. Police now believe that Gliniewicz staged his own death to avoid being exposed as an embezzler of thousands of dollars from a youth program. Police say it was a “carefully stage suicide” that led to a massive manhunt for the assailants. To make matters worse, his wife and son who appeared devastated by the murder of Gliniewicz by unknown assailants are now under investigation themselves. There is even an allegation that he might have sought out a hitman to kill the official who was close to uncovering the the embezzlement.
Police have said evidence “strongly suggests criminal activity on the part of at least two other individuals.” It appears that they were referring to the wife and son.
Gliniewicz’s wife Melodie and son D.J. allegedly are suspected of playing a knowing role in the scheme of their husband and father. Police say that they have discovered text and Facebook messages from Gliniewicz in which he discusses his fear of exposure with this family members, though they are only identified as “Individual #1” and “Individual #2”. Police say that Gliniewicz used money for personal purposes that were meant for Fox Lake’s Police Explorer program, including a Hawaii vacation with his wife that cost up to $9,000. The pressure came after Fox Lake hired its first professional administrator, Anne Marrin to audit all the village departments, including the Explorer program.
It is unclear how much knowledge and involvement the wife and son had in the scheme. The wife is most in peril as an alleged beneficiary of the funds at this point. If the son merely had knowledge, his failure to come forward is understandable. Indeed, prosecutors will sometimes threaten charges against family members to force a plea from a parent or spouse — a practice often denounced by defense counsel. However, it is not certain if the son had more than knowledge. Clearly, both remained silent during the aftermath of the shooting while either knowing or suspecting that the shooting could have been a suicide (and without revealing the possible criminal conduct).
The result is a horrific tale and a deep sense of betrayal not only for this small town but the nation at large, which rallied around the family.
trooperyork
This officer stole from the youth program’s coffers for seven years, spending that money on personal pursuits and denying deserving kids of those benefits. On top of that, he sent law enforcement on a wild goose chase, where $300,000 was dispensed to protect the community from bogus assailants, all in an attempt to, once again, perpetrate a ruse. His family pocketed additional money earmarked for those who lose a family member in the line of duty.
Why wouldn’t you, of all people–former or current law enforcement–want restitution with regard to the damages incurred, including the return of the $15,000?
where, by the looks of it, the wife indulged in the entire roasted pig at the luau
Thank goodness I wasn’t drinking coffee at the moment I read that. 😀
As to his pension, they can’t take it directly from that, however I would suspect that legal proceedings against the wife could be successful if it were shown that she was aware of his actions. Then they could get a lien or some other sort of satisfaction.
They should do the exact same thing to this guy and his family that they do to every fraud who claims they were a “victim of a hate crime” or a “rape victim” and were found out to be lying sacks of crap.
Nothing.
There is a temptation of those officers considering suicide to stage a fake homicide to cover their demise. While this is a rare occurrence it has happened before.
In police culture dying in the line of duty, especially via murder, is considered a great sacrifice worthy of the highest levels of honor bestowed upon the slain. Moreover, wives especially and children certainly are afforded great levels of support by neighboring agencies, their department and their communities–especially in rural areas. In a case having these circumstances if the deceased is under investigation and then commits an obvious suicide he will be viewed with much tempered sadness and very little honor.
On a financial side there are benefits provided to the spouse and family that resulting from line of duty death are not likely to be provided in a police suicide. The federal government provides through the Justice Department the Public Safety Officers’ Benefit. In 2015 that benefit is $333,604.00 Illinois provides $320,165.72 award benefit pursuant to the Law Enforcement Officers, Civil Defense Workers, Civil Air Patrol Members, Paramedics and Firemen Compensation Act . Other programs such as Social Security, life insurance, and state pension death benefits kick in as well as police association and private donors, such as the NRA and National Sheriff’s Association. Education benefits are also available to family members. Much of this would disappear if a suicide is proven. Here is a link.
https://www.odmp.org/benefits/state/illinois
Interesting tidbit:
I just read that the police association, which gave his widow $15,000, is now asking that the family return said money, stating that those funds are meant to support the families in which an officer has died in the line of duty. Good. While I sympathize with a family dealing with the loss of one of its members, those limited and crucial funds are not earmarked for situations such as this one. I do hope that the money, illegally siphoned off from the program by this officer, is also recouped from this family. $9,000, alone, was spent on a holiday in Hawaii, where, by the looks of it, the wife indulged in the entire roasted pig at the luau. If he has a pension with the police department, and, I assume that he does, all embezzled funds should come right off the top of that. My sympathies only go so far. More than $300,000 was spent looking for these purported killers, as this officer was, even in death, trying to scam the system by pretending to die in the line of duty.
I hope he got some great photos on vacation.
DBQ
From what I read in the local newspaper this morning, this guy was spending the money on several things–gym memberships, vacations, mortgage payments, loans to friends and adult websites. The embezzlement went on for approximately seven years.
Oh what a tangled web we weave…….
Why on earth did he steal money for vacation – was he that greedy/stupid?
Years ago, I worked at a small bank. It was easy then….things have changed now with computerized records…..to pilfer funds, not from individual customers but from some of the bank’s internal holding accounts. One officer at our branch found out how easy. Transfer the funds back and forth in the general ledger….oh….and be the officer who is manually certifyingthe records as well.
You start small. Maybe to cover a shortfall in your account because your husband got laid off. No one noticed. Ohhh. That was easy. Then you do it again. And again. and no one sees so you keep taking larger amounts.
Until….there was an internal audit and the jig was up. Everyone was shocked. This was the last person on Earth that anyone would have suspected of being an embezzler. This happens more than people want to realize.
In a small town, the news goes fast and everyone knows about your fall from grace. From a once respected position of trust to being a thief and one who has let everyone down. Everyone knows. You cannot face people anymore. People don’t want to associate with you. You are a pariah.
Perhaps this shame and fall from a respected position and the desire to hide this fall is what caused these people to go to such lengths. He possibly even thought that he was doing the brave thing to protect his family from the consequences of his and THEIR shame.
The sadder part is that they/the cop and his family tried to blame others and could have caused the death of other innocent people. The recent spate of cop killings, actual killings, have created a situation of high combustibility.
If you stage your own suicide then it means it was not a suicide. Unless he did it on stage. Anyone that dorky looking should commit suicide.
This reminds me of an Army Major at Ft. Bragg, NC. Code name “lover boy”.
“Lover boy” tries to get down pants of other wives soldiers. That’s 82nd Airborne, 5th special forces, special ops and delta force wives.
CID and base commander wants to bust this guy. Others wanted to handle Major the old fashioned way, catch him in bed with their wife. But the Major saw the writing on wall.
He committed suicide in a warehouse on Ft. Bragg, NC.
Nick writes, “Quentin Tarantino can include this in his white supremacy rant.”
Sorry about going off on a tangent, but, Nick, it was your idea. I thought Tarantino had a lot of guts doing what he did. He certainly didn’t do it for the money.
Jules Winnfield: You now what they call a Quarter Pounder with Cheese in France?
Brett: No.
Jules Winnfield: Tell ’em, Vincent.
Vincent Vega: A Royale with Cheese.
Jules Winnfield: A Royale with cheese! You now why they call it that?
Brett: ….Because…of the metric system?
Jules Winnfield: Check out the big brain on Brett! You’re a smart m’th’rf’r. That’s right, the metric system!
Let’s just say I’m a fan.
Best regards.
His photo is all over Yahoo and Google news. Enough is enough of the ugly people. We had that fat Clerk named Kim and the dork prosecutor and others.
This story tells me of the importance of hiring strong and competent administrators who will conduct audits. Why did it take so long to uncover this?
I’m confused. Even if the wife and son were somehow connected to or knowledgeable of the embezzlement, does that necessarily mean that they were in on the staged suicide, allowing an intensive manhunt to follow? Are they being accused of having knowledge of that, as well?
Steve, This guy was portrayed as a paragon of virtue. He obviously relished that persona. Having that destroyed, he was destroyed.
I understand that the total embezzled funds were around $50K – how does a relatively small sum like that lead to suicide? It wasn’t that big a hole.
Why on earth did he steal money for vacation – was he that greedy/stupid?
Quentin Tarantino can include this in his white supremacy rant. One of the alleged suspects broadcast by this coward was black.
I’m surprised anon didn’t beat you to this! He’s been following this story like a hawk.