Sources say they've been notified key Blagojevich probe figure is dead (The Chicago Way)

Chicago Tribune ^ | 9/12/2009 | Jeff Coen

[Velveeta]

Two sources with knowledge of the situation told the Tribune today they have been notified that Christopher Kelly, a key figure into the federal corruption probe into former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, is dead.

[Girlene]

“Clarissa Flores, a co-owner of the V Live”

That's curious given the information in this article: Christopher Kelly death: Details fill in events at hospital Police interview girlfriend; source tells of club fight Was she or wasn't she an owner? Kelly says he gave money to Clarissa, but she's not an owner?

[snip]
Flores-Buhelos brought Kelly into Oak Forest in a wheelchair, sources said. Sometime later he became very combative and had to be restrained. During this time, the sources said, Kelly made a reference to having taken a large amount of painkillers.

Hospital officials declined to comment about what happened at Oak Forest, citing federal health privacy laws. But the sources said Kelly eventually calmed down, was stabilized and that a treating physician at Oak Forest traveled with Kelly by private ambulance to Stroger Hospital so he could receive a higher level of care.

An autopsy was inconclusive, and toxicology tests are pending. Police have said Tylenol wrappers and a large container of pills were found in Kelly's SUV.

[snip]
Kelly had pleaded guilty last week to tax and mail fraud charges in a kickback scheme at O'Hare International Airport and was scheduled to report to prison this week. As part of the federal investigation, authorities were looking at money Kelly gave Flores-Buhelos as an investment for a Logan Square nightclub, according to a source with knowledge of the situation.

The source said that Kelly recently went to the nightclub at 2047 N. Milwaukee Ave. and wanted to check on the club's financial books. A club owner, though, refused to allow Kelly to see the books, angering Kelly. The two allegedly exchanged words, the source said.

In the course of following up on Kelly and his finances, the FBI recently went to the club and asked about it. It was at that time that the owner repeated the story and said Kelly had threatened the owner, the source said.

[snip]
Norma Martinez, a representative of Aragon Entertainment Center and the nightclub, said last week that Kelly had an altercation at the club with another co-owner, whom she declined to identify. She said Kelly had no ownership in the club.

On Monday, an attorney for the club, Carlos Vazquez, said Flores-Buhelos worked in a non-managerial position "for a month or so" in the club's first-floor restaurant.

"Neither Clarissa nor Chris Kelly were owners or investors," Vazquez said.

[snip] ...........

[penelopesire]

“Just days before he died of an apparent overdose, a defiant Christopher Kelly was resolved to fight a corruption trial he faced, if only to thumb his nose at federal authorities.

Former Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s fund-raiser and adviser suddenly flip-flopped, however, after faced with another point of pressure.”
(end snip)

Perhaps I am misunderstanding what is between the lines here..but it sounds to me like Kelly had ‘flipped flopped’ and was possibly going to spill the beans. That is the way I read this whole sentence. Whether it was under ‘pressure’ is not key here imho, it was that he was going to turn evidence. That ‘flip flop’ news was leaked and the next thing you know the guy is dead.

[STARWISE]

I think that’s referring to the change in
his plead .. guilty.

I could be wrong on the legalese and vagaries,
and you may be right, but it just seems to me
that if he was going to cooperate, the order
for him to jail this Friday could’ve and likely
would’ve been negotiated down by his attorney.

Rezko hasn’t yet spilled what they want from him,
and he’s still rotting in jail. Of course, we
don’t really know what Fitzie *wants* him to say.
He rules.

[ignorancerunsrampant]

Kelly demanded to see the books for the night club as he invested money in the club

[Girlene]

Kelly demanded to see the books for the night club as he invested money in the club

Was he an owner, or just thought he was because he gave the money to Clarissa-Flores for an investment in the club? See post 241

[hoosiermama]

Rat poison...how apropos

[hoosiermama]

DOn’t forget John WYma.....He knows as much as Kelly knew, if not more.

[Girlene]

Rat poison...how apropos

Was it rat poison, painkillers, tylenol, ....? From Christopher Kelly may have taken rat poison

Christopher Kelly placed a mattress in a rented trailer at a suburban lumberyard Friday night, set up photographs of his children around it, then ingested pills and possibly rat poison, according to a source with specific knowledge of the investigation into Kelly's death.

For some reason, he then left the trailer and attempted to drive away from the area. He made it only about 100 feet in the parking lot of the Forest Lumber yard before contacting his girlfriend,

But then from this article: Christopher Kelly death: Details fill in events at hospital

Police have said Tylenol wrappers and a large container of pills were found in Kelly's SUV.

So he takes rat poison in the trailer and ingests pills.....then there's tylenol wrappers in his vehicle and a bottle of painkillers? So where exactly did he ingest anything? Plus, he goes to all the trouble to set up the mattress, set up pictures......but doesn't leave a suicide note?

It's possible it was simple attempted suicide and he had a change of mind. But, if these reports are true, it seems over-kill on signs of attempted suicide without the crucial piece - the note.

[penelopesire]

I see what you are saying, but if he was going to go down fighting like has been reported, he would not have changed his plea to guilty. Changing a plea usually indicates a level of cooperation and a certain promise by the prosecutor to go easy on the final sentencing recommendations. It is all very strange and we are likely to never know the truth..It’s the Chicago Way.

[thouworm]

State records list her as a “manager/partner” at the VLive club, 2047 N. Milwaukee.

Post #236

So, assuming change of ownership -— relevance?

The mayor had plans for Flores. He walked into that press conference with the specific intention of holding up her drivers license for as long as it took for every reporter & camera to get every detail on it. WHY?

[STARWISE]

Maybe .. just maybe .. so someone could “find” her.

[STARWISE]

Kelly and his family at Blago's last inauguration in 2007. Heartbreaking ... those sweet little girls.

[thouworm]

yep; ought to be a crime to do that; dereliction of duty; I was wondering how he still had possession of it in the first place.

[STARWISE]

It was left in Kelly’s SUV, apparently.

[thouworm]

Also, is anybody else curious how THIS came to be reported?

“Kelly was found at 7:01 a.m. by his family, according to a report given to the Cook County Medical Examiner

That's not a minor contradiction. This was one of the early reports from a Chicago newspaper, but since they go into their posted articles and add & subtract as they please, I assume it is not retrievable in any fashion. That fact was picked up by many (as demonstrated by a Google search on the phrase).

Another question I have is why was Flores was such a target? She was the only witness supporting the "suicide" angle---a statement that would be an advantage if he were murdered (unless, perhaps, she saw something in the hospital that deeply troubled her).

[Texas Songwriter]

Isn't that a convenient way to tidy up any questions about his sudden death. Rat poison is warfarin (like coumadin) a blood thinner and kills by causing a stroke. It will generally cause petechie, bleeding from the GI tract and if he 'wretched violently' when vomiting would possibly cause bleeding from the stomach, eosophagus and find blood in the vomitus and in a standard urinalysis. The problem is that warfarin works by shutting down the production of prothrombin production in the liver and therefore there is a characteristic delay of several days in the action of the compound because the normal prothrombin levels in the plasma must decline. So death from warfarin poisoning usually manifests several days after ingestion of the rat poison. But even that is treatable with IV Vitamin K. It is therefore probable that he did not die of "rat poisoning" because he died too soon. As we discussed earlier, the vomitus would have contained aspirn tablets if he vomited that soon after ingestion.

When they post his head we will see if there are signs of central nervous system bleeding.

If the boys have been ordered to make it look like a suicide they need to do better than rat poison ingestion. The time line and the science does not support death by warfarin.

[Texas Songwriter]

Isn't that a convenient way to tidy up any questions about his sudden death. Rat poison is warfarin (like coumadin) a blood thinner and kills by causing a stroke. It will generally cause petechie, bleeding from the GI tract and if he 'wretched violently' when vomiting would possibly cause bleeding from the stomach, eosophagus and find blood in the vomitus and in a standard urinalysis. The problem is that warfarin works by shutting down the production of prothrombin production in the liver and therefore there is a characteristic delay of several days in the action of the compound because the normal prothrombin levels in the plasma must decline. So death from warfarin poisoning usually manifests several days after ingestion of the rat poison. But even that is treatable with IV Vitamin K. It is therefore probable that he did not die of "rat poisoning" because he died too soon. As we discussed earlier, the vomitus would have contained aspirn tablets if he vomited that soon after ingestion.

When they post his head we will see if there are signs of central nervous system bleeding.

If the boys have been ordered to make it look like a suicide they need to do better than rat poison ingestion. The time line and the science does not support death by warfarin.

[thouworm]

SUN-TIMES

Chris Kelly took rat poison, but large dose of aspirin killed him: source
Comments

September 15, 2009
BY MARK J. KONKOL Staff Reporter

One-time political insider Chris Kelly ingested rat poison and an “extraordinarily large dose of aspirin’’ before he died Saturday, a source told the Chicago Sun-Times.

Kelly, a former top aide to ousted Gov. Rod Blagojevich, might also have taken Tylenol, the source said, but neither the poison nor the Tylenol are believed to have been factors in his death. The amount of aspirin he took was a lethal dose, the source said.

The source said that after Kelly was hospitalized, the married father of three children was able to tell doctors what happened, leaving no doubt this was a suicide attempt.

“He meant [to kill himself] and he did it,’’ the source said.

Kelly apparently ingested the substances after setting up a mattress and photos of his children in a rented trailer in a lumberyard in southwest suburban Country Club Hills, another source confirmed.

But he apparently decided to leave the trailer and drove off a short distance. He called his girlfriend, who came and picked him up and took him to a hospital.

http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/blagojevich/1771946,chris-kelly-aspirin-rat-poison-091509.article

[thouworm]

“Evans said this afternoon an “unopened box of rat poison” was found at the scene”

CHICAGO TRIBUNE

Cops: Christopher Kelly tried to kill himself before

Christopher Kelly, who died from an apparent overdose this weekend, had tried to kill himself four days earlier after pleading guilty to federal charges, officials said today.

Country Club Hills Police Chief Regina Evans said Kelly apparently took over-the-counter medication just hours after entering the plea on Sept. 8. He called a friend seeking help, she said, and they drove to a hospital but didn’t go inside.

“He convinced his friends he was okay and just wanted to go home,” she said. “They decided Mr. Kelly did not need help at that time.”

But in the following days, friends and family tried to get him help, she said.

On Friday night, Kelly set up photographs of his children in a rented trailer in a lumber yard in Country Club Hills, then ingested pills, according to a source with specific knowledge of the investigation into Kelly’s death.

For some reason, he then left the trailer and attempted to drive away from the area. He made it only about 100 feet in the parking lot of the Forest Lumber yard before contacting his girlfriend, touching off a chain of events that saw Kelly taken to two hospitals before he died.
Evans said this afternoon an “unopened box of rat poison” was found at the scene. There was also “a sleeping bag, there were photos of three young girls and miscellaneous other items including food, trash and clothing,” she added.

Evans said the suburb’s investigation has concluded the death “was an apparent suicide” and no one else was involved. “There is no evidence whatsoever of involvement by other persons.”

The chief said a friend of Kelly’s gave police a note that may have been written by Kelly. She stopped short of calling it a suicide note, and declined to describe its contents in deference to Kelly’s family.

Evans described the note as rambling and “personal in nature,” but not addressed to anyone in particular.

She said it hasn’t even been confirmed it was written by Kelly, but the “implication was it may have been.” The note has been sent to the state crime lab for analysis, she said.

One of Kelly’s best friends, who had been sought by police since attempting to drive Kelly’s SUV from Oak Forest Hospital, has given a statement to police detailing what happened that night, the Tribune has learned.

The friend, Michael Allen, gave his statement to authorities on Monday, said a source with specific knowledge of the situation. He has also turned over items he removed from the trailer to police, the chief said. They included an open bottle of aspirin and an empty bottle of Tylenol.

http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2009/09/christopher-kelly-may-have-taken-rat-poison.html

[Texas Songwriter]

The problem I have with the statement that aspirin killed him is that he presented to 2 emergency rooms, awake, verbally communicative, apparently oriented, and with a blood pressure which allowed him to perform those aforementined functions. Someone dies of metabolic acidosis when aspirin toxicity is the cause. So if someone becomes obtunded and has decerease in cardiac output due to the acidosis you put him on a ventilator, begin to correct the acidosis, even if you have to use IV bicarbonate is rather large doses. You use supportive treatment, if cardiac output is diminsihed, even if you have to put a percutaneous pump. This man was 51, apparently otherwise healthy, and if seems he died very, very quickly, given the information we are dealing with here.