Disgraced Cop in Illinois; The Stuart Case All Over Again

Parent Cafe
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The matter of the Lt. Gliniewicz suicide brings back memories of the Charles Stuart case in Boston in the 1980s. Like Stuart, Gliniewicz thought that implicating an African-American perpetrator would cover his own crimes. Yeah, in Gliniewicz’s fantasy radio call he did say he was on the trail of three suspects, two white and one black…but in my mind that doesn’t minimize his nefarious strategy of invoking fear and racial stereotypes to cover himself. In a way it is similar also to Susan Smith of South Carolina, the white mother who murdered her two toddlers and concocted a story about a black kidnapper.

Honestly, when some friends of mine first heard about the Gliniewicz “murder,” they essentially rolled their eyes and said the story didn’t smell right.

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There were three men at a local ATM that matched the description he gave. There is speculation that he may have described these three in his cover-up. They were questioned and fortunately had an alibi, but were very concerned that they would be arrested for his murder.

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And the response from all the people all over the country who immediately blamed “Black Lives Matter”? Crickets.

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@DonnaL Their response is that it’s a cover up because God forbid a cop gets caught doing something wrong…

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I think it is Obama’s fault. He created an environment where embezzling police officers need to kill themselves.

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I think you need an emoticon there, @tom1944. B-)

Maybe this one =)) or perhaps this one >:)

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This happened relatively close to where I live. I know people in this community who feel enormously betrayed. About five weeks ago, my trainer told me the death was highly likely to be suicide. His brother is friends with a lot of cops who were part of the investigation and they were all saying that back then. What is flabbergasting, though, is the wide array of reactions from people in the community. Some are still in denial and believe it’s all a cover up - that there are cops out there who wanted him dead and set this up - and still believe he was a great guy. Many, many others, from day one knew he was a crook. My trainer said he was a known womanizer and bully. I just don’t understand how people can have such faith in a person. I really can’t think of anyone that I would put on such a high pedestal that I couldn’t believe it if were shown in my face what a crook he was.

So I’d known about the suicide theories for several weeks, and as soon as it broke this week (I happened to be with my trainer on Wed. when the press conference was going on), my trainer told me the wife and older son were also being investigated as co-conspirators. In the press conference Wednesday, they only referred to people who were currently being investigated. But then yesterday the news broke that the wife and older son were being investigated.

I can’t even begin to tell you how angry people around here are. Many people contributed to the GoFundMe account to help his family and now are furious that their money essentially went to more crooks. I’ve asked a few people around here if they think GoFundMe will try to get that money back - it’s unclear at this time. But there were also people who contributed to the fund not through GoFundMe who will likely be SOOL.

I talked to a friend of mine last night who is very entrenched in this community (Fox Lake/Lake Villa) due to her job, and it has absolutely torn the community apart. If you don’t remember, his funeral procession went for 18 miles and to this day, many residents along major routes still have up blue ribbons, etc. - although she did say it would be interesting to see today when she went to work, if any of that had come down (she’s off on Wednesday so didn’t drive through town after the press conference Wednesday).

I watched most of the press conference on Wednesday and people are beside themselves with anger and feel enormously resentful for how the investigation was handled, accusing the task force for allowing the ‘hero’s funeral’ to take place despite what they were suspecting. Honestly, when I heard everything that went on in the investigation, all the documents they accumulated and records of texts (personal and work cells), and bank statements, there was absolutely no way that in the ensuing 4-6 days after the death, they could have had a completed investigation and report then. The community chose to do this, because they believed three people out there wanted their famous G.I. Joe dead. If anyone had suggested suicide at that early time, they would have needed to call the National Guard in to prevent riots - most people didn’t want to hear that, and the people who knew him better to be a crook, weren’t going to shove his abysmal character in grieving peoples’ faces. But the people who chose to not wait until the investigation was completed to make him a hero are blaming the investigators, which I think is wrong. Right now they should be furious with his wife and older son who knew what he was doing, yet accepted all that money donated to them. Their anger is misplaced.

This is a very blue-collar community. Not only that, but for many years, this part of Lake County has been known as a home to sleepy Aryan Nation and Nazi groups. Not the brightest people around, and definitely conspiracy theorists. This story is going to get much worse before it fades away.

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I’m grateful that three people haven’t been jailed all this time “just 'cause.”

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They need to review every case he made an arrest or any case he gave testimony.

In NJ the county prosecutor in Middlesex County has refused to present any case where a certain Edison police officer was involved in the arrest or investigation.

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And let’s not forget about the diligent auditor who was onto Gliniewicz’ scheme. In the TV news interview I watched she appeared quite fearful when asked about the crooked cop’s plan to have her executed.

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And now they are suggesting that his wife and son were aware and perhaps aided him in the scheme? Just really hard to process. I heard a lawyer speaking on CNN this evening and he thought that the funds that went into the GoFundMe account would not be recoverable. I was thinking it could be argued that they were obtaining money under false pretenses if they had knowledge of and aided in the embezzlement. But am thinking it would depend on what the specific stated purpose of the GoFundMe account was.

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I know people with a family member who was a police officer and was killed in the line of duty; he truly was a hero. I imagine that for them, this incident must carry particular pain.

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This is such an appalling story. This man was not only a thief, but a bully and a liar. He was accused of sexual harassment on more than one occasion and had six separate suspensions for sexual misconduct. He threatened to shoot his dispatcher. He threatened to ‘execute’ the auditor who was investigating his embezzlement. I have to wonder what the heck he was still doing on the police force?!!

The investigation cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. He was given a hero’s funeral and police departments from across the continent sent contingents to attend. I doubt that anyone who donated to the family, who allegedly were complicit in all of his actions, will ever see their money again.

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So the story out now, and I don’t know if it’s hit the press or not since I haven’t really read much of local news because they just seem to repeat the same information from day to day is, the cop’s oldest son, who is in the military, married the cop’s mistress so she could be eligible for military benefits. Neighbors are willing to testify that the cop was over at his son’s house every afternoon, which, I know, doesn’t make a case, but there is enough information now to suspect the son will be court martialed. I don’t understand how military benefits work, but if the mistress and son get divorced (which they did after a year) does she still continue to get benefits as an ex military spouse?

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What a wretched story this all is.