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Task force launched in Lefkow slayings
But authorities declined to connect the slayings at the North Side home of U.S. District Judge Joan H. Lefkow and the case of Matthew Hale, convicted last year of trying to arrange the judge's murder after she held him in contempt of court. "There is much speculation about possible links between this crime and the possible involvement of hate groups," said Chicago Chief of Detectives James Molloy. "This is but one facet of our investigation. Lefkow arrived Monday evening at her residence in the 5200 block of North Lakewood Avenue in the Edgewater neighborhood to find her husband and mother dead of gunshot wounds in the dwelling's basement. Investigators said they believe the victims were shot to death between 10:30 a.m., when Humphrey spoke by telephone with one of her daughters, and 6:30 p.m., when Judge Lefkow came home and discovered the bodies. The judge's daughter had stopped by the house at 4 p.m. to pick up a gym bag and had left without seeing her father or grandmother or anything amiss in the house, police said. However, Molloy said investigators believe the victims already were dead by that time. "We have a lot of physical evidence from the scene, but I'm not going to get into what type it is," Molloy said. When asked if neighbors heard gunshots Monday, the detective said, "We have some people we discovered during the canvass last night. What they told us is not going to be disclosed." Shannon Metzger, spokeswoman for the U.S. Marshals Service, said a special protection detail had been assigned to Lefkow's home last year during the Hale trial, but that arrangement lasted only "a couple" of weeks and was discontinued with the judge's consent. The judge and her family today were under the protection of the U.S. Marshals Service, the Associated Press reported. Hale, 33, is in custody in Chicago awaiting sentencing on one count of murder solicitation and three counts of obstruction of justice. During the trial, prosecutors said Hale was furious after Lefkow ordered him to stop using the name World Church of the Creator because it had been trademarked by an Oregon-based religious group that has no ties to Hale. Hale's father, retired East Peoria policeman Russell Hale, offered condolences to Lefkow's family, but said his son could not have been involved in the deaths because he is under constant surveillance while awaiting sentencing. Hale is only allowed visits and phone calls twice a month with his divorced parents, and those conversations are monitored and recorded by FBI agents, his father said. Posted by: Steve White 2005-03-02 |
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