Text messages show Lt. Gliniewicz was nervous about audit by village

Backup officers later found the Army veteran’s body about 50 yards (45 meters) from his squad vehicle.

Months before an Illinois police officer staged his suicide to make it seem like he died in the line of duty, subjecting his community to an expensive and fruitless manhunt, he apparently sought a hit man to kill a village administrator he feared would expose him as a thief, a detective told The Associated Press on Thursday.

An official says the wife and son of an Illinois police lieutenant who killed himself during a probe of the youth program he ran are also under criminal investigation.

For years, Gliniewicz helped manage the Fox Lake Police Explorer Post, a program for aspiring teenage police officers, where he allegedly took the funds from.

Authorities revealed the embezzlement investigation Wednesday and confirmed weeks of suspicion that Gliniewicz killed himself and staged the scene to look like he died in the line of duty.

“Gliniewicz committed the ultimate betrayal”, George Filenko, Lake County Major Crimes Task Force commander said during a news conference Wednesday.

Lake County Coroner Dr. Thomas Rudd said today Gliniewicz was depressed during the final few weeks of his life.

The organizer of the canceled Antioch High School fundraiser, retired LaGrange Officer Jack Kielczynski, said he planned the event to benefit Gliniewicz’s family because policing is “a brotherhood”, but canceled it in light of Wednesday’s events.

Gliniewicz’s family dismissed the suggestion of suicide.

An intense manhunt began immediately, with hundreds of officers searching houses, cabins and even boats on area lakes.

Charles Joseph Gliniewicz was fatally shot drew national attention to this small village in September. “Joe”, mentored many youths through the Explorers, and a few observers portrayed his death as evidence of an escalating war on police.

It was a close call at a Miami restaurant after, officials said, a driver who had lost control of his auto struck a vehicle, landing on its side. “The Gliniewicz family requests that their privacy be respected as they proceed to cope with the loss of the beloved husband and Father”. The swampy terrain was otherwise undisturbed, and his gun wasn’t found for more than an hour, even though it was less than three feet from the body, Filenko said.

WGN News has also learned that more than a decade ago, Fox Lake and the police department faced a sexual harassment lawsuit centering around a complaint that Gliniewicz, who was a sergeant at the time, asked for sexual favors from another officer he supervised.

But on Wednesday, Chicago residents and the nation’s conservative pundits who hailed the officer as a victim of police criticism were forced to face uncomfortable facts about their “G.I”.

In a statement, the family said that “today has been another day of deep sorrow for the Gliniewicz family”. However, because of their proximity to the area, Filenko said he could not rule out the possibility that Gliniewicz might have actually seen the men, incorporating their descriptions into his scheme. “It’s quite unbelievable and nearly surreal”, she said, adding that police have assured her that she is safe.

One sign that had been placed in front of the Fox Lake police station, honoring Gliniewicz as a hero, had been defaced with the words “lied, stole, disgraced”. They apparently didn’t know as much as they’d thought about GI Joe.

Investigators then found that the village of Fox Lake, north of Chicago, had started “a thorough internal audit of all of their assets” that Gliniewicz was concerned might unearth proof of his illicit financial activities, Filenko said.

On the day he died, Gliniewicz radioed that he was chasing three suspicious men. Lake County State’s Attorney Mike Nerheim said the results of the investigation have been turned over to his office, as well as to the FBI, for investigation and potential prosecution of alleged crimes that are not related to his shooting but were uncovered during the investigation into it. Nerheim declined to go into further detail.