Judge's husband, mother found dead

[Padraig18]

Judge's husband, mother found dead

By David Heinzmann
Tribune staff reporter
Published February 28, 2005, 9:25 PM CST

The federal judge whom white supremacist Matthew Hale attempted to have murdered found her husband and mother lying dead in her house when she returned home Monday night, police said.

Judge Joan H. Lefkow returned to her house in the 5200 block of North Lakewood Avenue after work and found the bodies of her husband, attorney Michael F. Lefkow and her mother, Donna Humphrey, lying in blood in the house, police said.

Detectives, U.S. Marshals and FBI agents rushed to the scene and were investigating the deaths as a "death investigation," police said. Other family members may also have been present when the bodies were discovered, neighbors said.

Police sources were cautious about describing the deaths Monday night, and said it was too early to say how the victims were killed.

More: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-050228lefkow,1,4091866.story?coll=chi-news-hed&ctrack=2&cset=true (reg. required)

[Pachamama]

1. "Death Investigation"? Duh...two people related to a Federal Judge found

in a pool of blood didn't die of natural causes....

Given the history of Matt Hale and this Judge, I'd say there is a very likely connection and that this was probably a murder hit to get to her.

Wow....this is awful....

[The Backlash Cometh]

2. Notice they call them white supremacists when they kill. Do you

have any doubt that the man voted for Bush?

[ProfessorGAC]

4. I'll Say 99% Likelihood

The Hale folks are truly bottomfeeders. They are the lowest of the low. Most of complete dumbasses, and the ones that aren't are truly evil people getting their jollies over being leaders of the dumbasses. I would put NOTHING past this slime. Killing these two people is not beyond their lowliness.
The Professor

[Plaid Adder]

3. This is so awful.

My partner is a lawyer in Chicago and she knows this judge. She just called me about it. It's just so awful. They can be as "cautious" as they want about describing what happened, but if this is anything other than a political assassination by Hale's thugs, I will eat two hats.

They won't let you take nail scissors onto an airplane but a federal judge who's been targeted by a white supremacist group can't get effective protection for her family. I hate this fucking place sometimes.

The Plaid Adder

[Cuban_Liberal]

5. Where was her security?

She's been the subject of death threats and a failed 'contract' hit already, and she DIDN'T have protection???? :wtf: were the Marshal's Service and CPD thinking, assuming they WERE thinking?

:wow:

[Pachamama]

6. With her...sadly, the protection did not include her family members..

:cry:

[Cuban_Liberal]

9. What a monumental screw-up!

I may have only been a small, downstate, rural sheriff's deputy, but even I have enough sense to understand that you also protect the family of someone who's been threatened with death. Dear God, is there no place for common sense in the CPD or Marshal's Service?

:grr::argh::nuke:

[Southsideirish]

22. They cut off her security detail in 4/2004. I wonder who ordered that?

[Logansquare]

7. Stormfront website has detailed info on her husband

including links to his picture and pics of their daughters and grandchildren. Is there any doubt about the motive for these murders? Now they just need to find out who specifically did it, and if Hale managed to issue a fatwa from jail.

[greatauntoftriplets]

8. I live about a mile away from this family....

This is a terrible tragedy. I wish to hell they had not withdrawn her police protection when Hale went to prison last year.

[gfr4656]

10. so sad

i know one of their daughters. i went to high school with her.

[Withywindle]

11. This is so horrible...

..and it reopens some of the feelings of horror of the Benjamin Smith shooting spree.

I am so, so sad for Judge Lefkow and her family and I can't believe this was allowed to happen.


Sometimes I get disturbed by my own capacity to hate that kind of human scum. I guess I could be capable of some pretty evil deeds myself if I got my hands on someone like Hale. Sobering. Something to ponder.

[Name removed]

12. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Padraig18]

13. HUH????

:wtf:

[SheWhoMustBeObeyed]

15. Skolnick. Absolute gibberish. n/t

[slaveplanet]

16. You might want to reserve judgment

Until Andy comes through with the goods....His posts suggest Shemy may not be too far of mark on this one..Of course we're all waiting with bated breath for him to come forth with his evidence.

In case you haven't been following the wrinkles or just got lost in some crack...http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=3196579&mesg_id=3202428&page=

[SheWhoMustBeObeyed]

18. Thank you, but I am not lost

There are some garden paths on which I choose not to venture.

[The Magistrate]

20. Do Not Insult My Wife, Sir

The radioactive ruins of Minneapolis-St. Paul are a mute but adequate testimony to the value of such investigations....

[SheWhoMustBeObeyed]

14. More on clues, judge's protective status - from the Trib

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/na/chi-0503020263mar02,1,3454791.story

Execution-style' hits
Officers find broken window, bloody shoe print

-snip-

Investigators believe the "point of entry" was a broken basement window.

Shards of glass from that window, believed to have at least one fingerprint, were sent Tuesday to an FBI lab.

There were "signs of movement" in the muddy ground outside the window and someone had tried to secure the window after it was broken. Police also found material on the ground in front of the window that may have been placed there by the intruders.

-snip-

Though Judge Lefkow had been the target of Hale's plot, she and the U.S. Marshals Service had agreed more than a year ago to end a protective detail assigned to her around the time of Hale's arrest, said James Tantillo, chief deputy for the service in Chicago.
----------------------------------------

Also in today's Trib:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/na/chi-0503020258mar02,1,4962123.story

On the Web, allies of Hale cheer slayings

-snip-

But on white supremacist Internet sites Tuesday, some Hale sympathizers were cheering the slayings of two Lefkow family members--even as they criticized the rush to associate Hale or his group with the deaths.

Police confirmed that they are focusing their investigation on the Hale connection but cautioned that no evidence has been found linking the slayings to him or his followers.

Lefkow has been a target of vitriol for white supremacists ever since she became involved in a trademark suit against Hale's organization. Several groups even publicized the family's address, mistakenly stating that they are Jewish.

-snip-

A purported member of Hale's group from Palatine posted this message Tuesday on the Vanguard News Network message board: "While I certainly understand that we are not supposed to be advocating illegal activities, there is nothing illegal or harmful in being happy about this incident. I can barely contain my glee."

:mad:

[Padraig18]

17. Those people are either truly evil, or terribly ill.

:grr:

[mohinoaklawnillinois]

19. Paddy, great minds think alike.

I had the exact same thought when I read that post from the nutjob in Palatine.

[Placebo]

21. My Philosophy professor is the Judge's neighbor...

she came in today eyes red, trying her best to hold back tears, and still go on teaching the class. Her hands were shaking, her writing on the board was shaky and words were often missing letters or wholly illegible; she was quite upset. She went into a long rant about what kind of society we live in where hate is so prevalent and accepted.

sigh...

:(