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Man sought mental health help Woodstock resident accused of stabbing roommate at apartment visited hospital last weekend By KATIE DAHLSTROM kdahlstrom@shawmedia.com WOODSTOCK – The 26-year-old man accused of fatally stabbing his 53-year-old roommate in their Woodstock apartment had sought mental health treatment the weekend of the alleged crime, police said. Branden M. Napolitan called Centegra Specialty Hospital – Woodstock on Friday seeking treatment and
Obama speaks out about police
was told he needed to go to the main Centegra Hospital – Woodstock first, Deputy Police Chief John Lieb said Tuesday. About 10 a.m. Friday, Napolitan called either 911 or a nonemergency line, and a Woodstock Fire Rescue District ambulance took him to the hospital, Lieb said. It’s unclear if Napolitan got the treatment he sought. Two days later, police discovered his roommate, Daryl K. Fox, dead inside the studio
apartment they shared at 680 Leah Lane, Apt. 1A. Police said they found Fox within view of the front door and with blood on his back. “The investigators are still trying to determine motive,” Lieb said Tues- Branden M. day. Napolitan Fox died from multiple injuries, including blunt-force injuries to his
neck and a sharp injury to his lung, McHenry County Coroner Anne Majewski said after an autopsy was performed Monday. The stabbing occurred sometime between Friday and Sunday, Lieb said, but investigators are not sure which day. Also unclear is the reason the men lived together, but police said they had been there for two to three years. The call that prompted the discovery came from an ac-
quaintance who knew both men, Lieb said. “They knew that Daryl was supposed to work on the weekends and called his place of work,” Lieb said. “And when they found out he had not reported for work, they called us.” Napolitan had taken Fox’s Volkswagen Passat and driven to Madison, Wisconsin, police said. Meanwhile, his Dodge pickup truck sat in the apartment
complex parking lot roped off by police tape. McHenry County Major Investigation Assistance Team, U.S. Marshals’ Fugitive Task Force and Madison police found Napolitan shortly after midnight behind a Madison grocery store. When one of the officers spotted Napolitan and said, “There he is,” Napolitan ran, Lieb said.
See NAPOLITAN, page A7
NONTRADITIONAL STUDENTS RETURN TO COLLEGE FOR UNDERGRADUATE DEGREES
Says officers are ‘scapegoated’ for society’s failures By DARLENE SUPERVILLE The Associated Press CHICAGO – Defending police officers who have come under scrutiny like never before, President Barack Obama on Tuesday said the men and women who risk their lives to provide security are wrongly “scapegoated” for failing to deal with broader problems that lead people to commit crimes. UnemployBarack ment, poor edObama ucation, inadequate drug treatment and lax gun laws are not the responsibility of police officers, Obama said in remarks to the International Association of Chief of Police, which held its annual meeting in the president’s Chicago hometown. He blamed the news media’s tendency “to focus on the sensational” for helping to drive a wedge between police officers and a public they take an oath to protect and serve. He called for rebuilding the trust that once existed between them. Obama delivered his speech amid a roiling national debate about officers’ treatment of potential criminal suspects following the deaths of unarmed black men in New York, Missouri and elsewhere by police. “Too often, law enforcement gets scapegoated for the broader failures of our society and criminal justice system,” the president said. “I know that you do your jobs with distinction no matter the challenges you face. That’s part of wearing a badge.” “But we can’t expect you to contain and control problems that the rest of us aren’t willing to face or do anything about,” he said. Obama also sought to avoid making the debate about police against communities. “I reject any narrative that
Photos by Matthew Apgar – mapgar@shawmedia.com
Aurelija Bieksaite plays with her children, Amelia Alieva (left), 4, and Aram Aliev, 8, at a neighborhood park near their home Saturday in Lake in the Hills. Like the vast majority of college students across the U.S., Bieksaite is a nontraditional student, meaning she’s returning to school, has children, a full-time job or other responsibilities that affect her ability to focus 100 percent on school.
Making lifestyle adjustments McHenry County College offers classes at night, online for older students On the Web
By EMILY K. COLEMAN ecoleman@shawmedia.com CRYSTAL LAKE – At least a few times a week, Aurelija Bieksaite finds herself staying up until 2 or 3 in the morning just to get her homework done. The Lake in the Hills resident is enrolled in McHenry County College’s nursing program, but she’s also a mother to two young children. “My passion was always health,” she said. “I was just interested in [it] since my childhood.” But when Bieksaite’s father had a stroke five years ago and she saw the work all his doctors, nurses and physical therapists did for him, her decision to return to college and purH. Rick Bamman – hbamman@shawmedia.com sue a career in health care crystalAurelija Bieksaite, a 34-year-old mother and McHenry County College nursing stu- lized. Bieksaite is like the vast majority dent, discusses a patient treatment scenario with nursing instructor Angela Sass.
At what age did you first attend college? Vote online at NWHerald.com.
of college undergraduates in that she is considered a nontraditional student, according to the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics. Nontraditional students can have dependents, be single caregivers, have delayed their college enrollment, not have a traditional high school diploma, be employed full time or attend school part time. McHenry County College, however, tends to have fewer nontraditional students as a percentage of its
See STUDENTS, page A7
See OBAMA, page A6
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