Investigation Concludes Illinois Lieutenant Joseph Gliniewicz Committed Suicide Staged Death To Look Like Homocide

Joe Gliniewicz, the late Fox Lake, Ill., lieutenant, committed suicide, but had intentionally staged his death to look like a homicide.

Joe Gliniewicz Staged Death

Gliniewicz, a 32-year veteran of the Fox Lake police force, had been hailed a hero after he was found dead back in September. At the time, it was believed that Gliniewicz had been killed in the line of duty. This week it was revealed that Gliniewicz’s took his own life to avoid facing the consequences for his crimes, reported CNN.

Gliniewicz’s death was “a carefully staged suicide,” according to George Filenko, Lake County Major Crimes Task Force commander. “This staged suicide was the end result of extensive criminal acts that Gliniewicz had been committing.”

Filenko added that the way in which Gliniewicz – who had experience staging mock crime scenes – positioned his equipment, was an “attempt to mislead first responders and investigators to believe this was a homicide.”

Gliniewicz had also gone through the trouble of setting up the homicide scenario with a radio call in which he alleged that he was pursuing three men – two white and one black – on foot. His next and final radio call was a request for backup. By the time the backup arrived, Gliniewicz was shot dead. What followed his death was a massive manhunt in which more than 400 law enforcement officials combed the wooded area where Gliniewicz was found, looking for the three suspects. No leads on the men ever turned up.

Investigators eventually uncovered thousands of Gliniewicz’s deleted text messages, as well as bank statements that revealed financial improprieties. It was soon learned that Gliniewicz had been stealing and laundering money from a police department program called Explorer Post that mentored youth in the community who had aspirations of joining law enforcement. Before his death, Gliniewicz had reason to fear that his illicit activity was about to come to light.

Filenko, who says that officials went where the facts led them in the case, claims that the department never meant to create a false narrative about Gliniewicz and his death.

“We completely believed from day one that (the death of Gliniewicz) was a homicide,” he said. “Our intention was never to mislead the public.”