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Prosecutor to defend ex-coroner Officials divided on who will pay Lantz’s legal fees in ‘Baby Doe’ case By CHELSEA McDOUGALL cmcdougall@shawmedia.com WOODSTOCK – Attorneys agree that a special prosecutor should be appointed to defend former McHenry County coroner on official misconduct charges, but they can’t come together on who should pay her legal bills. Marlene A. Lantz, 68, of McHenry was charged with official misconduct and forgery stemming from her time as McHenry County coroner. Lantz served six consecutive
Police probe auction theft
terms as coroner before retiring in 2012. Prosecutors allege that Lantz skirted her official duties by failing to properly bury or cremate the remains of “Baby Doe” who died in 1992. She was a public official when the alleged crime occurred, so typically the State’s Attorney’s Office would defend her. But in this instance, the office can’t simultaneously prosecute and defend her. McHenry County Judge Robert Wilbrandt asked that other state’s attorney’s offices
in the state first be contacted to see whether they will represent her at no cost to taxpayers. That’s unlikely because it essentially asks prosecutors to act as a criminal defense attorney. “I can’t envision a scen a r i o w h e n Marlene t h a t w o u l d A. Lantz happen,” said Michael Combs, lead prosecutor on the case and chief of the
State’s Attorney’s Criminal Division. The matter is continued to June 22. Lantz has asked that Woodstock-based attorney Mark Gummerson represent her and that her legal bills be paid by the taxpayers. Combs argued that the decision to pay for her defense should come at the conclusion of the case. “In the event of a guilty verdict, the defendant should not have her criminal defense paid for by the county if she did commit official miscon-
duct while in office,” Combs wrote in his response. If another office agrees to represent her at no cost, Lantz can refuse their representation, Gummerson said. However, if she refuses, she has to pay for her own defense. If Wilbrandt appoints Gummerson, the pay rate is determined using a formula based on the salary of a state’s attorney. It is estimated that could be around $100 an hour, which is well below the market rate of about $300 to $400 an hour, Gummerson said.
According to court documents, autopsies conflict on how the baby died. The first autopsy conducted in 1992 determined the baby was miscarried. A second autopsy conducted in February found that “Baby Doe” was born alive and had asphyxiated after being delivered into a toilet at a Crystal Lake restaurant. Wilbrandt previously ruled that burial of the baby would be delayed while the case moves through the courts. Lantz has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
McHENRY COUNTY EXPERTS ON RETIREMENT PLANNING
Save early to save trouble
$75K in Grateful Dead items taken from Union By ANNE EICKSTADT editorial@shawmedia.com UNION – Police are investigating the theft of about $75,000 worth of Grateful Dead memorabilia that were awaiting transfer to its owners from a huge April auction celebrating the band’s 50-year career. McHenry County Sheriff’s police said several items from the Grateful Dead Family Jubilee Auction were stolen at an unknown time during the weekend of April 25 and 26 from Donley’s Auction Services, 8512 S. Union Road, Union. The items were being processed for shipping, and many them were awaiting pickup by armored car. Only local events were scheduled in the complex and the thieves had to get past staff employees to reach the prep area. The most valuable piece stolen is a hand-painted, 1966
See THEFT, page A4 H. Rick Bamman – hbamman@shawmedia.com
Financial adviser Patrick O’Connor (left) greets client Dirk Vause of Crystal Lake before their meeting to discuss Vause’s plans for financing his retirement at the Wells Fargo Advisor office in Algonquin.
Survey finds cost of living barrier to saving for retirement By STEPHEN Di BENEDETTO sdibenedetto@shawmedia.com
Photos courtesy of Donley Auction Services
This hand-painted original Mouse-Kelley poster, circa 1966, was among several items from the Grateful Dead Family Jubilee Auction that were stolen sometime during the weekend of April 25 and 26 from Donley’s Auction Services in Union. This poster was listed at a minimum auction price of $25,000.
Area financial planners find that shortcomings in a person’s retirement fund usually result from the person’s failure to plan. A newly released national survey on retirement planning reinforces the notion. Excluding traditional retirement plans and pensions, almost a third of workers across the country said they have less than $1,000 in savings and investments that could be used for retirement, according to a survey of 1,003 workers and 1,001 retirees by the Employee Benefit
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Research Institute and Greenwald and Associates. Roughly 57 percent of respondents said they have less than $25,000 that could be put toward retirement. The respondents also said cost of living and daily expenses are the primary barriers to retirement saving. Patrick O’Connor, the managing principal for Wells Fargo Advisors
in Algonquin, said he often finds that workers want to invest their earnings into homes and cars first before they begin to tackle retirement, which can seem like a distant reality to many people. “People don’t plan to fail. They fail to plan,” O’Connor said. “That’s true now more so than ever.” The earlier someone starts putting money away toward retirement, the easier retirement planning becomes, O’Connor said. Many times, workers think they’ll just work longer to save toward retirement, but they don’t anticipate health issues or economic downturns that could trigger early re-
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tirement, he said. Of the retirees surveyed in the study, 50 percent said they left the workforce earlier than planned, with 60 percent of them citing health issues and 27 percent of them citing their company either downsizing or closing. Paula Dorion-Gray, chief executive of Dorion-Gray Retirement Planning in Crystal Lake, wasn’t surprised by the national survey’s findings. Coming out of the economic recession, many people who are unemployed or underemployed are
See RETIREMENT, page A4
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