Posted on 03/01/2005 7:06:49 PM PST by Hillary's Lovely Legs
By ABC7Chicago.com March 1, 2005 — Chicago police are investigating a double murder in the home of a federal judge. U.S. District Judge Joan Humphrey Lefkow discovered the bodies of her husband and mother -- Michael F. Lefkow, 64, and Donna Humphrey, 89 -- Monday night in her North Side home. The victims were shot to death.
Judge Lefkow and her children are now under the protection of U.S. marshals as a task force scours the home for evidence. Judge Lefkow received death threats after her ruling against self-proclaimed white supremacist Matt Hale. Matt Hale was convicted of soliciting the murder of Judge Lefkow last year. Officials have not linked Hale to the murders.
Autopsies are being conducted on the victims, who were pronounced dead at the scene around 5:30 p.m. Sources close to the investigation told the ABC7 I-Team that it appears a lone gunman entered the Edgebrook home through a basement window. The two victims were found face-up on the basement floor. They had been shot in the head and chest. Officials believe the shooter spent some time in the house trying to clean up. The suspect reportedly left a shoe print in the blood on the basement floor and fingerprints on the basement window, which was wired shut with a coat hanger, sources said. Nothing was taken from the house and the shooter reportedly left through a door.
"We have a lot of physical evidence from the scene, but I'm not going to get into what type it is," said James Molloy, chief of detectives, Chicago Police Dept.
The Chicago Police Department launched a special task force that will be dedicated to the investigation.
"We have pulled detectives from other areas of the city and we have brought in the FBI and the United States Marshal Service to assist us as we move ahead. The members of the task force will work in two shifts around the clock. I am confident that our detectives working with these federal agencies will help us move forward. But we also need the public's help as well," said Deputy Supt. Hiram Grau.
Police established a hotline that anyone with information on the crime is asked to call: (312) 744-8445.
"There is much speculation about possible links between the crime and the possible involvement of hate groups. This is but one facet of our investigation. We are looking in many, many directions but it would be far too early to draw any definitive links. The case is too new and the evidence is still being worked up. It is too soon to determine a motive. We are looking in every direction and we'll follow the evidence wherever it takes us," said Chief Molloy.
Matt Hale Judge Lefkow's name became known in white power circles during the Hale trademark infringement case involving Hale's church, which he called Church of the World Creator. Hale was convicted of soliciting the murder of Judge Lefkow after that trial. He is in solitary confinement at the Metro Correctional Center in the Loop, where he is not allowed to watch TV, read newspapers, listen to the radio or send and receive mail. Hale has no visitors other than his parents for an hour a month. They are accompanied by a federal agent.
During the Hale trial, racist websites posted Judge Lefkow's home address. Judge Lefkow received around-the-clock police protection just after the Hale trial.
"I can't comment on the type of security we provided at that time. The protection detail at the time was established when a viable threat was deemed necessary as part of the marshal service mission. We have a constant investigation into that. At another time after the initial protection detail was initiated, it was deemed not viable to protect her outside the courthouse, so the protection detail was terminated at that time. I can't tell you exactly when the protection detail was. It was sometime last year and it lasted for a couple of weeks," said spokeswoman for U.S. Marshals.
Investigators are searching for evidence throughout the Lefkow's neighborhood, where residents were shocked to hear about the double murder.
"What a tragedy that it really was to happen to such a wonderful person like Joan," said George Plensener, judge's neighbor.
Police are searching through trash, walking the streets and questioning neighbors.
"Nothing really specific, just general. Did ask about any break-ins. I haven't heard of any in a long time," said J.J. Ontiveros, judge's neighbor.
Judge Lefkow has overseen hundreds of cases during her time as a judge. Her husband was also an attorney.
"She and her family have our deepest sympathy and condolences. This is an unfortunate tragedy. We sympathize with her and love her and hope she will endure this tragedy," said R. Eugene Pincham, retired judge.
"All of us here are heart broken over the tragic loss that she and her family have just suffered," said Judge John Grady, federal district. "Judge Lefkow has already been through one traumatic experience that involved a threat to her own life. And now she loses her husband and her mother, and it's just more than anyone should be asked to bear."
Michael Lefkow known as loving family man, advocate for poor
Mike and Joan Lefkow met while she was a student at Wheaton College and he used the library for research. Mike Lefkow graduated from Northwestern Law School. He dedicated his career to helping the poor. Mike Lefkow argued two cases before the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of welfare recipients.
Despite his successful career, many say Mike Lefkow will be remembered for the passion he had for his wife.
The shelves in Mike Lefkow's law office are filled with pictures of his four daughters and his wife, Joan. That comes as no surprise to those who knew him. The 64 year old was known not only to talk about his love for his wife, but show it as well.
"They are the couple that would walk around holding hands. This was something he was proud of, not arrogant," said Dr. Thomas Scott, Chicago Diocese of Episcopal Church.
Mike Lefkow and Dr. Thomas Scott worked together on a committee for the Chicago Diocese of the Episcopal Church. The Lefkow family belongs to St. Luke's in Evanston, where Mike Lefkow served on the vestry.
"He wanted very much to be able to express in daily work the things he believed and celebrated at worship," said Dr. Scott.
Mike Lefkow's strong faith translated into his passion for providing legal help for the poor. For several years, Mike Lefkow worked as a lawyer for the Legal Assistance Foundation of Chicago.
"He worked in poor communities on the south side. He was part of the initial office of economic community program to provide legal services to the poor. And he was a fierce and dedicated advocate," said Sheldon Roodman, Legal Assistance Foundation of Chicago
In recent years, Mike Lefkow continued his work in private practice. He shared offices with lawyer William Spielberger.
"I looked up to him as a person very knowledgeable of the law and took the law seriously," said William Spielberger.
Besides his legal mind and passion for his family, Mike Lefkow will always be remembered as the man who wore a fedora. It now sits on the floor in his empty office. Mike Lefkow's friends and fellow lawyers now hope justice will be served.
"My fervent hope is that they bring to justice whoever committed these acts because both Mike Lefkow and his wife have dedicated their careers to justice," said Spielberger.
Some attorneys look at Mike Lefkow's murder as an attack on the justice system. Lefkow was also known for his sense of humor and his passion for flamenco dancing. Mike and Joan Lefkow married in 1975.
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If I or my family were being actively threatened I would have purchased and carried a gun. It's your life.
A gun wouldn't have done Judge Lefkow much good, since she wasn't there at the time. I suppose if her 89-year-old mom could have had a piece on her walker, or her convalescing husband had a hogleg strapped to his crutches, they might have had a chance. I'm all for being armed at least as much as is legally practicable, but I don't see it as being very practical here. Maybe they would have been O.K. if they had continued to have police protection 24/7, but who wants to live like that?
I thought he was in his sixties. That's not to old to carry.
BUmp for later read.
He just had surgery and was on crutches.
MSNBC has a reporter from Chicago on right now; he said there were two phone calls from a "correctional institution" to the judge's home on Sunday night.
Guess who is kept there?
Who is kept there?
And was it a prisoner who made the phone call and why are they allowed to call people who aren't on the approved list?
Not in "Little Richie Rich" Daley's kingdom.
Matt Hale.
And they didn't say anything about the rest of your question.
Hale?
And was it a prisoner who made the phone call and why are they allowed to call people who aren't on the approved list?
The "who" that made the phone call will be relatively easy to find.
The "who" that allowed the phone call will be more difficult.
Just posting as you did.
This has gotten beyond ridiculous.
The other day there was a thread that the 1993 WTC terrorists were sending letters overseas to other terrorists.
And now Hale is permitted to call a Judge he has a grudge against.
Last I knew, there was an approved list in each jail and no calls or visits were permitted if the name wasn't on that list.
A lot of people live like that. It sure beats the alternative, IMO.
Does not seem as though the shooter was a "professional."
Hindsight is 20/20. Federal judges piss off bad guys every day. In Montana, our local and federal judges routinely deal with hatemongering vermin that make Hale look like a piker. Is our society so lawless that we at the point that we have to keep such judges in armed compounds for their own pritection? Maybe I've been off the grid for too long, but I didn't think we had sunk that low, even in Chicago.
I can think of a few LPers, FUers and like-minded swine who will be proclaiming Hale's innocence and blaming the murders on the Joos. What am I saying, some of them already are blaming the crime on the new director of Homeland Security.
Yup. That is already happening on another Lefkow thread. The culprits of choice appear to be Muslims, but anyone will do other than the true most likely suspects -- white supremacists.
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