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County to decide whether revenue justifies program By KEVIN P. CRAVER kcraver@shawmedia.com WOODSTOCK – The McHenry County Board gave a decade-old program to hold federal detainees at the McHenry County Jail six more months of life to determine whether it is worthwhile from a revenue standpoint. Its members voted, 23-0, to grant Sheriff Bill Prim permission to retain seven corrections officers who were set to be let go until May, at which time the county could determine whether the revBill Prim enue brought in by renting out the beds justifies keeping them. Prim told the County Board last week he estimates the program will bring in $5 million to the county’s general fund in fiscal 2016, which begins in December. The new sheriff, who was elected last year pledging reform, already has cut more than 33 corrections positions. “We’ve driven our costs way down. We’ve come up with significant savings,” Prim said. The fate of the jail bed rental program has been a contentious issue with the County Board – namely whether it still is financially viable – and also was a campaign issue when Prim successfully won election last year over retiring Sheriff Keith Nygren’s handpicked successor. County government in 2003 inked a deal with the federal government to house up to 256 detainees – 206 for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and 50 for the U.S. Marshals Service – in exchange for $6.4 million to help pay for building the Woodstock jail’s third floor. The 10-year deal went into effect upon completion of the expansion in 2005, and the contracts expire in January. Prim estimated the jail would need to house 29 or 30 federal inmates a day to break even with having the seven additional
Photos by Sarah Nader – snader@shawmedia.com
Lake County Sheriff’s Detective Chris Covelli finishes speaking at a news conference Monday at the Fox Lake Police Department. Covelli said gunshot residue and ballistic tests done during the investigation into Fox Lake Police Lt. Joseph Gliniewicz’s shooting “do not support or exclude any theory.”
No theories ruled out after crime scene tests
Investigators testing DNA, following leads in ongoing case By CAITLIN SWIECA cswieca@shawmedia.com FOX LAKE – Ballistics and gunshot residue tests from the scene of the shooting death of Fox Lake Police Lt. Joseph Gliniewicz do not support or exclude any specific theory in the investigation, and authorities continue to investigate the case as a homicide, Lake County Sheriff’s Detective Chris Covelli said at a news conference Monday. The task force received both writLt. Joseph ten reports Monday Gliniewicz morning, with the ballistic tests conducted by the Northeastern Illinois Regional Crime Lab and the gunshot residue tests conducted by the Illinois State Police Crime Lab. Covelli declined to release any
scene, and one of those pieces was of high enough quality to be run through the FBI’s Combined DNA Index System (CODIS). That piece is being run through the system, Covelli said, and other DNA found on the scene is being run against DNA swabs police have collected throughout the investigation. Police have collected more than 80 swabs of DNA and are working on about 300 leads, Covelli said. He also revealed that a federally trained K-9 unit at the scene that day was able to positively track a scent away from the scene. That was one of several facts that led investigators to continue Covelli briefs the media Monday at the Fox Lake Police Department. the investigation as a homicide, Covelli said. further details on the tests, citing tors that are actively investigating, “The K-9 track doesn’t necessarthe ongoing investigation. and those responsible,” he said. ily tell us how many suspects there “Basically, there’s two groups of The detective also said there are, but based on the track and the people that should know what hap- was DNA from an unknown source pened at the scene: The investiga- at several locations at the crime See GLINIEWICZ, page A4
See JAIL, page A4
Fatal shooting victim not seen for 2 weeks, neighbors say By KATIE DAHLSTROM kdahlstrom@shawmedia.com McHENRY – Nearly two weeks passed between the time neighbors last remember seeing Daniel L. Bakker waving from his garage and the time police converged on his home near McHenry after finding his body. Bakker was found Thursday in his home in the 2500 block of Alton Road with a fatal gunshot wound to the head, officials have said. Police have since arrested the 69-year-old’s son, Michael L.
Bakker, and charged him with murder and concealing the fatal shooting. Neighbors in the West Shore Beach subdivision said they don’t remembering hearing any commotion in the quiet residential neighborhood near McCullom Lake. They described Daniel Bakker as a welcoming man they often would see while driving or walking by his single-family home. “He was the only guy who waved to anybody,” neighbor Cully Wasilas said. “He was al-
ways sitting outside and waving.” McHenry County Major Investigation Assistance Team Cmdr. John Birk would not say how long Daniel Bakker had been dead before police discovered his body, but neighbors said they last had seen him before Michael Labor Day. L. Bakker Birk said police were called to the home for an unresponsive subject, but
would not comment on who called police. Daniel Bakker lived in the home by himself, although he has a daughter who lives in the area, Birk said. The death came as a shock to some of Daniel Bakker’s neighbors. Chris Buff, who lives a couple blocks away, said neighbors would greet each other, but kept to themselves for the most part. “They’re very warm and friendly, but I’ve never had someone say, ‘We’re having a block party. We want to meet the neighbors two blocks
down,’ ” Buff said. Michael Bakker, 46, lived in an apartment about five minutes away at 5017 McCullom Lake Road, police said. No one could be reached at his McCullom Lake apartment Monday. Police arrested Michael – a convicted felon – Friday in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, and extradited him Friday afternoon to McHenry County, Birk said. “He was not in his home for a number of days prior to the discovery,” Birk said. He is being held in the McHenry County Jail on $5
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million bond. He is next due in court at 9 a.m. Thursday. At the peak of their investigation, Birk said there were 35 investigators working the case. He said the number of investigators has dwindled, but police continue to conduct interviews and collect evidence. Officials would not disclose what led police to suspect Michael Bakker in his father’s death. “If I disclose certain key pieces of evidence,” Birk said, “it could compromise the case at trial.”
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