NBC 5 Investigates

‘Threatening to Kill': Records Detail History of Police Calls Prior to Buffalo Grove Murder-Suicide

Police records obtained by NBC 5 Investigates show the wife and victim of her husband’s apparent murder-suicide in Buffalo Grove called 911 nine times for assistance in the four months leading up to her death. Officers say the woman, her two children and mother-in-law were murdered by her husband.

It was a crime that garnered national headlines out of northwest suburban Buffalo Grove: Two mothers and two young daughters murdered. The suspect – who was their son, husband and father – killed them before apparently killing himself, police say. 

Now, new information shows the turbulent history of police responses to the family’s home in the months and years leading up to their tragic deaths.

Buffalo Grove Police discovered the crime scene when responding to a well-being check at the Kisliak family home on the 2800 block of Acacia Terrace on Nov. 30.

There, authorities identified five bodies, including 67-year-old Lilia Kisliak, 36-year-old Vera Kisliak, Vera’s two daughters, 6-year-old Vivian and 4-year-old Amilia. 

Vera’s husband and Lilia’s son, 39-year-old Andrei Kisliak, was also found deceased, and investigators say all evidence points to Andrei being the chief suspect who killed all four family members before taking his own life.

Photos of Vera and Andrei Kisliak obtained by NBC 5.

The Lake County Coroner’s office said all five were found dead from "sharp force injuries" in what they called a "domestic incident." No further details have been released. 

Following the deaths, NBC 5 Investigates filed a Freedom of Information request for all records detailing instances where Buffalo Grove police were called to the family’s home, and all reports involving Andrei and Vera Kisliak spanning over the last two decades. 

The reports, released just this week, paint a rocky relationship between Vera and Andrei, marked with reports of threats, arrests, and allegations of domestic violence, including numerous occasions where Vera called 911 for help, fearful of her husband. 

Court records show in the months leading up to the murders, Vera and Andrei were in the process of getting a divorce. And the newly released police reports show the divorce was one of many options suggested by officers during their many visits to the family’s home.

The reports show Vera had called Buffalo Grove Police as early as 2018 to ask officers for advice with her marital problems.

On numerous occasions, officers advised Vera to pursue an order of protection or protective order, a child custody agreement, as well as work with a social worker who was regularly providing Vera and her daughters resources and referrals, a spokesperson for the Village of Buffalo Grove said.

In all, Buffalo Grove police records show officers responded to 14 domestic calls for service since 2011: Ten calls placed by Vera, three calls placed by Andrei and one call placed by a third party.

The records show Vera called Buffalo Grove police nine times in the four months preceding her murder. 

At times, Vera called to report her husband Andrei’s threatening behavior, officer’s notes indicate. 

Three months before the murders, on Aug. 23, Vera called police and said Andrei had “threatened to kill her,” according to the report. 

Vera told officers that night she had tried to record Andrei’s behavior on her phone, “but he grabbed her phone and threw it to the ground,” damaging the phone’s screen, officers observed in their report. 

That police response ended with officers separating the couple, and advising Vera to obtain a protective order. 

The next day, the police reports show officers were called out to the Mistiko Cafe after someone had called 911 to report Andrei had brought his 4-year-old and 6-year-old daughters to a bar where he “seemed intoxicated,” and they feared for the girls’ safety. 

The 911 caller said when “the father left the girls alone at the bar… she spoke with the 6-year-old juvenile who told her she was afraid to go home,” and that “the father Kisliak hits them and their mother at home.” 

When officers responded, the report notes they asked the 6-year-old in front of Kisliak whether that was true, she denied it and said she wasn’t afraid to go home. The officers notes indicate a report was filed with the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services about the incident. 

Four days later, on Aug. 28, officers were called out to the Kisliak home again after Vera told officers  “she was having a verbal argument with her husband” while putting her daughters to bed and that “[Andrei] had threatened physical harm,” including punching “one of their children if they didn’t leave the room with him.” 

Vera told officers she wanted to leave the house with her children, and when officers told Andrei that Vera had every right to, “Andrei was not pleased with this,” and said he would be speaking with his attorney.

The report indicates that officers waited as Vera gathered some belongings for her and the children, and they left the home with Vera. The report does not say whether officers notified DCFS about the incident. 

Friends and neighbors left flowers and signs in memory of Vera Kisliak, her two daughters, and mother-in-law.

On Sept. 14, a Lake County Judge granted Vera’s request for an emergency protective order against Andrei through Oct. 3, requiring him to stay away from his wife, their two children and the home on Acacia Terrace, according to court documents. 

The order also required Andrei to surrender any firearms in his possession to the Buffalo Grove Police Department.

Two weeks later, on Sept. 30, Buffalo Grove officers were called out to the home again, after Vera called 911 to report Andrei was violating that protective order.

According to a police report, Andrei had entered the home on Acacia Terrace, and when officers responded, they noted Andrei was “uncooperative” and refused numerous opportunities to get dressed and leave. 

Andrei was booked into Lake County Jail and held on a $5,000 bond. He pleaded not guilty to the misdemeanor charge on Oct. 12. 

Court records show a full, two-year order of protection was entered on Vera Kisliak’s behalf Oct. 25. Meanwhile, a status hearing on the couple’s divorce was scheduled after Vera, her children and mother-in-law were killed. 

The day before the order of protection was extended, and a little more than a month before the Kisliak family’s bodies were discovered in November, Andrei complied with a court order and surrendered a firearm he owned. Village officials redacted the type of firearm Andrei turned over. 

Neighbors left flowers outside a suburban Buffalo Grove home Thursday evening just one day after five members of the same family were found dead following a well-being check. NBC 5’s Vi Nguyen reports.

The newly released documents also show Andrei had other run-ins with the law dating back to 2009, including business owners asking police to remove Andrei from their establishments, as well as taxi cab drivers calling to report Andrei not paying his owed fare. 

Prior to marrying Vera, Buffalo Grove records show Andrei was the suspect in another incident of domestic violence in 2011 involving his fiancée at that time.

The woman -- whose name was redacted in the records -- called 911 after Andrei reportedly “grabbed her by the neck and slapped her in the face while pushing her out of the house.”

Officers noted the woman had a large welt on her neck, and a bloody nose.

Andrei denied hitting the woman, but the report indicates officers placed Andrei under arrest and charged him with misdemeanor domestic battery. The report said Andrei was processed and placed in a cell awaiting prosecution.

Cook County court records show Andrei pleaded not guilty, and at a hearing before a judge more than a month after he was charged, the “complaining witness did not show,” and the case was dismissed. 

In releasing the records, Buffalo Grove police said the investigation into the deaths is ongoing, and a final report will be released to the public at this link, along with the police records shared this week.

If you or a loved one are experiencing domestic violence, resources are available at the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233.

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