Posted on 03/10/2005 10:59:25 AM PST by TheOtherOne
Source: Man Claims Responsibility for Slayings of Judge's Family
Published: Mar 10, 2005 CHICAGO (AP) - A man who shot himself to death during a traffic stop in Wisconsin claimed in a suicide note that he killed a federal judge's husband and mother, a source close to the investigation told The Associated Press Thursday.
Chicago Police Department spokesman David Bayless identified the man as Bart Ross.
WMAQ-TV in Chicago also reported Thursday that it had received a handwritten letter signed by Ross in which he describes breaking into the house of Judge Joan Humphrey Lefkow around 4:30 a.m. on Feb. 28 with the intent to kill her and anyone else.
Lefkow had ruled against Ross in a civil case involving a medical-malpractice lawsuit, a ruling that was upheld by a federal appeals court in January. Ross, 57, was also being evicted from his home and had a court date Thursday.
Lefkow found the bodies of her husband, attorney Michael Lefkow, 64, and her mother, Donna Humphrey, 89, on the basement floor of the Lefkow home the evening of Feb. 28.
Suspicion immediately turned to white supremacist Matthew Hale, who had been convicted of soliciting Lefkow's murder after she ruled against him in a trademark dispute. Investigators insisted, however, that Hale's followers and other hate groups were just one focus of the investigation.
In the letter to WMAQ, Ross said he waited all day in a utility room in the basement and shot the judge's husband after being discovered. Ross said he then shot Lefkow's mother after she heard the gunshot and called out to her son-in-law.
"After I shot husband and mother of Judge Lefkow, I had a lot of time to think about life and death. Killing is no fun, even though I knew I was already dead," the station quoted the letter as saying.
Ross said he stayed in the house until about 1:15 p.m. before deciding to leave, according to the letter.
The suicide note found in the van indicated that Lefkow had ruled against Ross in a civil case, costing him "his house, his job and family," the Chicago Tribune reported, citing unidentified sources. The note also included details in the slayings that were not released to the public, Tribune Deputy Managing Editor James Warren said in an interview on CNN.
Ross was stopped by police in West Allis, Wis., Wednesday evening because his van had a faulty tail light, police said. As officers approached the car, he killed himself with a gunshot to the head, police said.
Police in the Milwaukee suburb declined to characterize the evidence found in the van. But a source close to the investigation told the AP on condition of anonymity the van contained a suicide note that also listed other judges.
The Tribune also reported that about 300 .22-caliber shells were found in the van. Investigators found three casings of the same caliber in the Lefkow home.
Last September, Lefkow dismissed a civil rights lawsuit in which Ross claimed doctors at the University of Illinois-Chicago Hospital and its clinic had disfigured him, damaged his mouth and caused him to lose his teeth when they treated him for cancer from 1992 to 1995.
Among other claims, Ross alleged doctors committed a "terrorist act" against him by giving him radiation treatment without his consent. He represented himself in the lawsuit.
Defendants included the federal government, the State of Illinois, five doctors and four attorneys who had taken part in an earlier Ross lawsuit that was dismissed by another judge.
Ross was also about to face eviction from his home, according to Cook County Sheriff's spokesman Bill Cunningham. A lawsuit was filed in housing court Feb. 23 seeking to evict Ross, and sheriff's deputies tried three times in early March to serve Ross with court papers. The case was due in court Thursday.
Police have been unable to find any of the man's family. Chicago police Thursday cordoned off the street outside Ross' last-known address, a two-story home across from a high school on a tree-lined street on the city's North Side.
Jinky Jackson, 34, a neighbor, said Ross was wearing a neck brace as of a month ago. She said she would say hello to Ross when she saw him but he would not reply.
"He doesn't mingle with other neighbors," Jackson said. "He'd come home late and stay inside."
AP-ES-03-10-05 1330EST
What? It's not evil white men trying to keep the black man down? Watch this one slip off of page one right quick.
Chicago Police Department spokesman David Bayless identified the man as Bart Ross.
.....'AKA'...________________??
"After I shot husband and mother of Judge Lefkow, I had a lot of time to think about life and death. Killing is no fun, even though I knew I was already dead," the station quoted the letter as saying.
Ross said he stayed in the house until about 1:15 p.m. before deciding to leave, according to the letter.
The suicide note found in the van indicated that Lefkow had ruled against Ross in a civil case, costing him "his house, his job and family," the Chicago Tribune reported, citing unidentified sources. The note also included details in the slayings that were not released to the public, Tribune Deputy Managing Editor James Warren said in an interview on CNN.
Ross was stopped by police in West Allis, Wis., Wednesday evening because his van had a faulty tail light, police said. As officers approached the car, he killed himself with a gunshot to the head, police said.
When did anyone say this case had anything to do with 'keep the black man down'?
The exclusive media focus on the white supremacist groups implied it strongly.
you mean, like the Snipers, or the Olympic bomber, or . . .
It certainly wouldn't be the first time.
Sounds like Chief Moose was on the case.
MSM that was so quick to blame right-wing extremists for this are the same one's that caution not to jump to blaming muslims whenever their is a suspected terrorist attack.
I suppose you'll have to excuse the cops for thinking this might be tied to a man who had PUBLICLY THREATENED THIS VERY JUDGE! Good grief, what would you expect?
Is this really "breaking news"? I heard this earlier this morning, at least 6 hours ago.
cue Simon and Garfunkel...
"He was a most peculiar man
That's what Mrs. Reardon says, and she should know
She lives upstairs from him...
(snip)
He had no friends, he seldom spoke (snip)
He died last Saturday. He turned on the gas (snip)
A most peculiar man.
Already threads about this here
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1359956/posts
and here
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1359873/posts
"Ross was stopped by police in West Allis, Wis., Wednesday evening because his van had a faulty tail light, police said. As officers approached the car, he killed himself with a gunshot to the head, police said."
From an eyewitness report last night she told the news guy that the police had a shield when they approached the car. My assumption is that the Milwaukee police were looking for his guy at the request of CPD after the letter contents were disclosed to CPD from Ch 5. The tailight story was just that.
I'm not a moderator, hit abuse, if it offends you.
/...'INS'
You mean if he hadn't been pulled over because of a faulty tail light. He killed himself after officers approached the van.
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