Posted on 03/01/2005 10:03:37 AM PST by Anti-Bubba182
CHICAGO - A U.S. District judge who was once the target of a failed murder plot by a white supremacist was under federal protection Tuesday as authorities investigated the shooting deaths of her husband and her mother.
U.S. District Judge Joan Humphrey Lefkow found the bodies of Michael F. Lefkow, 65, and the judge's mother, Donna Humphrey, 89, about 6 p.m. Monday when she returned home from work, according to authorities and her friends.
Authorities gave no indication that the deaths were related to the case of white supremacist Matthew Hale, who was convicted in April 2004 of soliciting an undercover FBI (news - web sites) informant to kill her.
Hale, 33, is awaiting sentencing on one count of murder solicitation and three counts of obstruction of justice.
Hale had become notorious in 1999 when a follower, Benjamin Smith, went on a deadly shooting rampage in Illinois and Indiana. Targeting minorities, Smith killed two people, including former Northwestern University basketball coach Ricky Byrdsong, and wounded nine others before killing himself as police closed in.
The bodies of the judge's husband and mother were in the basement of the home with gunshot wounds to the head, according to a federal source who spoke on condition of anonymity.
No weapon was recovered, but police found two .22-caliber casings, said another source close to the investigation. That source also said police found that a window had been broken at the house.
"It looks like a possible break-in," said the source.
Detectives were searching for clues in Lefkow's professional life, including her involvement in the Hale case and cases over which she has presided. Lefkow was questioned for hours by police and then returned to the home with detectives late Monday night to help with the investigation.
The judge and her family were placed under the protection of the U.S. Marshal's Service, said Charles P. Kocoras, the chief federal judge for the Northern District of Illinois.
"All of us are horrified by the murder of Judge Lefkow's husband and mother. Nothing can prepare us for such a stunning, tragic event," Kocoras said in a statement.
Lefkow received police protection after Hale was arrested in January 2003. Prosecutors alleged that Hale was angry because Lefkow, presiding over a copyright infringement suit, ruled that he could no longer use the name World Church of the Creator for his group since another organization had a copyright on that name.
The protection detail was discontinued after Hale's conviction last year, said Shannon Metzger, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Marshal's Service.
"We sat down and deemed the threat was no longer viable," said Metzger. The judge had taken part in the meeting, and Metzger stressed that protection would have been continued if she had wanted it.
An Internet search of white supremacist discussion forums Tuesday found links to photos of Lefkow's husband and daughters, as well as excerpts from Michael Lefkow's biography from the Web site for his law office. Some postings dated Tuesday had news articles about the killings with the comment "RAHOWA!", meaning "racial holy war." Others warned posters not to "say or do anything stupid" and speculated that the government was behind the killings.
Hale's reaction to Smith's three-day shooting spree — Hale laughed about it and imitated gunfire in secretly recorded tapes played for the jury — was part of the prosecution's case last year.
Lefkow, 61, served as a federal magistrate and a U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge before President Clinton (news - web sites) nominated her for the District Court bench in 2000.
Neighbors and friends described the Lefkows as a model family, active in their church. They had four daughters plus a fifth from his previous marriage. "This is someone who adored his daughters," Nan Sullivan said. "They were the kind of family everyone aspires to be, very close-knit, very supportive."
Hale never testified during his two-week trial. His attorney, Thomas Anthony Durkin, called no witnesses, saying the prosecution's evidence was the weakest he had seen in a major case.
A key witness, Anthony Evola, testified he secretly taped Hale for the FBI while posing as a follower. Among the conversations were ones in which they discussed the judge.
"Are we gonna exterminate the rat?" Evola can be heard asking Hale, who responds a short time later: "I'm going to fight within the law and, but, ... if you wish to, ah, do anything, yourself, you can."
The defense argued that Hale never asked anyone to kill the judge and that the FBI used Evola to draw him into a murder plot.
Not surprisingly, the Stormfronters are blaming everyone from random burglars, to black thugs, Jews, and the government.
This is a terrible blow for her family and the larger civilized family of people in law enforcement.
Ping...Don't know if you were still in central Illinois in the late 80s...At that time Matt Hale was a punk college kid from East Peoria. Looks like he's still a punk.
</sarcasm>
I wouldn't be surprised. The tapes seem to indicate he wouldn't have minded seeing harm come to this judge.
"police found two .22-caliber casings"
Probably subsonic loads and the weapon used was probably suppressed or silenced. While Hale and his friends are the obvious suspects it should be noted that Lefkow has had several Russian mobsters in her court and the attack is more of a Russian style of assassination in that there is very little evidence and small caliber pistols are almost a Russian tradition for a hit (it is an insult for Russians to be killed by a small caliber weapon). The racist crowd tends to want to let people know who did a crime by leaving propaganda & etc. at their killings and would be more inclined to use a larger caliber weapon.
If I were to bet on who the perp is in this case I'd put my money on the Russians.
Home invasion for profit, perps discovered wife was a federal judge, took a perverted revenge against the system??
Hale does not believe in Christianity; in fact, he disbelieves in Christianity. He believes in some form of paganism, Aryan religion.
Nope.
I was long gone by then.
Ah the peaceful wonders of Chicago, one of the few cities in the country that absoultely prohibits its residents from keeping hand guns for protection. The irony is that this Clinton-appointed Federal judge probably believed wholeheartedly in the ban.
You seem to know a lot more about the Russian mobsters than I do. One thing for sure, with .22s, and apparently only two of them, being used, this was a particularly professional and vicious hit.
A fair number of Russian mobsters are former KGB officers (Vladimir Putin comes to mind) and they are well trained and their skills went unwanted after the fall of the USSR. Crime was a natural niche for these alpha-male predators.
On the upside, the Russians tend to run their criminal enterprises as businesses and they also seem to be rather dispassionate about it. Asians, blacks, and latinos get all riled up over bull&hit like who sassed their mom, what color sweater you have on, and crap like that. The Russians don't care if you sass their mom. They do care if you mess with their income.
I think this is where the Judge ran afoul of them and the hit is very typical of a Russian style hit. It was very efficent and no calling cards were left.
White racists would *want* to 'send a message' and they'd want other people to fear them for their act...they'd take credit for it.
well, let's hope the killers were juveniles.
that way they can sleep soundly knowing they can't be
executed now.(sarcasm)
I hate Illinois Nazis
From what I understand, Judge Lefkow had federal marshall protection up until the time Hale was convicted, and after that it was removed.
"This is a terrible blow for her family and the larger civilized family of people in law enforcement."
It is. This is really horrible. I want to hear less about Michael Jackson and more about what law enforcement is doing to catch the people who did this. When you attack a federal judge, you attack me too -- this is an assault upon the judicial branch that should be investigated very quickly and efficiency.
This is of no interest at all to the MSM. Enemies of society are their natural cohorts.
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