Wife of Illinois officer who staged suicide indicted

FOX LAKE, Ill. (AP) – The wife of an Illinois policeman who staged his suicide to look like homicide and prompted an intense manhunt for suspects was indicted Wednesday for assisting her husband in embezzling money from a youth program.

Melodie Gliniewicz turned herself in at the Lake County Sheriff’s Office when she learned of the grand jury indictment, said detective Christopher Covelli, a sheriff’s office spokesman. She was being processed and taken to the county jail Wednesday afternoon, he said. Her bond was set at $50,000. Her attorney did not immediately respond to a voicemail and email seeking comment.

Gliniesicz’s husband, Fox Lake Police Lt. Charles Joseph Gliniewicz, died Sept. 1. Authorities say he staged his suicide to look like a homicide because he feared discovery of embezzlement from the Fox Lake Police Explorer Post.

The officer’s death touched off a manhunt involving hundreds of officers and raised fears that several killers were on the loose in northern Illinois. Joe Gliniewicz was initially hailed as a community hero and praised for his work with the youth program.

Two months after Gliniewicz’ death, authorities announced that he had killed himself after embezzling from the village’s Police Explorer program for seven years, prompting tough questions about why it had taken so long to reach that conclusion.

“We completely believed from day one that this was a homicide,” George Filenko, the commander of the Lake County Major Crime Task Force, told reporters at the time.

In a news release on Tuesday, the Lake County State’s Attorney’s office said an investigation determined that Melodie Gliniewicz used money from the police explorer’s account to pay to make more than 400 restaurant purchases and a trip to Hawaii. Cavelli said Gliniewicz’s son, D.J. Gliniewicz was not a suspect in the financial scheme and the son had “no idea the money was coming from this account.”

In a statement, attorneys for Melodie Gliniewicz vehemently denied that she took part in her husband’s scheme. “Melodie is a victim of her husband’s secret action and looks forward to her day in Court to show the world her innocence,” said the law firm of Kelleher & Buckley in a prepared statement.

Joe Gliniewicz had run the Explorer program for teens interested in possible careers in law enforcement. Authorities say Melodie Gliniewicz served as an adviser to the Explorer Post and had a fiduciary role with the program’s finances.