Authorities say they hope to make more headway this week in an investigation into the death of a former chief fundraiser for ousted Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
Country Club Hills Mayor Dwight Welch said police on Monday plan to pursue more interviews and hospital admittance records in the possible suicide of 51-year-old Christopher Kelly. Welch also says they'll subpoena phone records and get a search warrant for a storage locker Kelly might have rented.
On Sunday, medical examiners completed an autopsy and detectives looked into whether drugs found in Kelly's vehicle may have factored into his death. Kelly died Saturday, just days before he was to report to prison to begin a three-year prison sentence on tax fraud charges.
The Sun-Times reports that police are hoping to extract more information from Kelly's 30-year-old girlfriend, Clarissa J. Flores-Buhelos. Flores-Buhelos drove Kelly to the hospital after she found him unconcious in his Cadillac Escalade in a lumber yard at 173rd and Cicero.
Welch said that Flores-Buehlos, however, is not cooperating with police, to which her lawyer responded:
“The mayor's a jackass. You can print that,” Gillespie said. "She's got nothing to hide ... This girl’s best friend in life just died hours before. He's [the mayor] basically [implying] she did something wrong.”
While the police followed leads in the aparrent suicide, Blagojevich released a statement.
“I am deeply saddened to hear that Chris has died. My heart goes out to his wife Carmen, his three daughters Grace, Jacqueline and Claire and his entire family. They are in our prayers."
The former governor said he will attend Kelly's funeral, which is planned for Wednesday.
For more information on Christopher Kelly and Rod Blagojevich check out our full coverage.
