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Political consultant John Ruff dies in auto accident (Key Figure in Burris Perjury Trial)
Chicago Sun Times ^ | June 9, 2009 | DAVE McKINNEY
Posted on Thursday, June 11, 2009 7:54:47 PM by callisto
SPRINGFIELD — A key figure in the perjury investigation of U.S. Sen. Roland Burris died in an automobile accident Monday, authorities in far west-suburban Kendall County confirmed Tuesday.
John Ruff, of Sandwich, Ill., was killed shortly before 3 p.m. when his 2001 BMW convertible crossed an oncoming lane of traffic and collided with a tree while he was driving eastbound on Rogers Road near Oak Brook Road in unincorporated Plano, said Kendall County Sheriff’s Deputy Richard Pearson.
John Ruff, a key figure in the perjury investigation of U.S. Sen. Roland Burris was killed in an automobile accident Monday in Kendall County. He was 42-years-old. (Jean Lachat/Sun-Times)
Police have ruled out alcohol as a cause of the crash, but toxicology results won’t be known until a coroner’s inquest in mid July.
Pearson said there were no witnesses to the crash nor was there evidence of any other vehicles involved. There were no skid marks on the road.
“We have absolutely no idea what caused Mr. Ruff’s vehicle to veer off the roadway,” Pearson said.
Deputy Kendall County Coroner Jacquie Marcellis told the Sun-Times that Ruff died of blunt head and chest trauma. No autopsy is planned.
Marcellis said that a friend of Ruff’s indicated to her that he had been diagnosed with a brain tumor, though it was unclear whether that had any bearing on the crash.
“Obviously, one of the effects of a brain tumor is you have seizures. It could have been an issue for him,” she said.
Ruff, 42, was the subject of a March 6 front-page story in the Sun-Times in which he issued an apology for being a co-plaintiff with Burris in a lawsuit seeking to force Secretary of State Jesse White to certify Burris’ controversial late-December appointment by impeached ex-Gov. Blagojevich.
Ruff, a health-care and political consultant, raised the prospect of a possible quid pro quo between Blagojevich and Burris, recounting a telephone conversation with Burris’ business partner Fred Lebed, who allegedly told Ruff on the date of Burris’ appointment, “We’ll have to do some things for the governor.”
Ruff also said he recalled Lebed telling him he’d had discussions about Burris’ interest in the Senate appointment with Blagojevich representatives — lobbyist John Wyma, now-indicted chief of staff John Harris and former chief of staff Lon Monk — as early as October.
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Chicago) Mayor Daley Nephew Linked to Warehouse Lease
CBS 2 CHICAGO ^ | 13 JUNE 2009 | AP
Posted on Saturday, June 13, 2009 7:25:21 PM by Extremely Extreme Extremist
A published report says a company co-owned by Mayor Richard Daley’s nephew used Chicago pension funds to buy a warehouse that was later leased by the city for nearly $500,000.
The Chicago Sun-Times reports in its Sunday editions that Robert Vanecko’s company, DV Urban Realty Partners, invested $4.2 million of pension funds in a southwest side warehouse in November 2007. The newspaper says that ever since, the city has leased the facility to store dump trucks.