Elk Grove police chief, former detective fight release of DeLuca
An Illinois parole board panel received gruesome testimony Wednesday against releasing Frank DeLuca, who was convicted with former girlfriend, Patty Columbo, for one of the suburbs' most notorious murders.
The couple killed Columbo's parents and her 13-year-old brother at their Elk Grove Village home in 1976, bludgeoning, stabbing and shooting the victims. DeLuca, 78, and Columbo, 60, are again eligible for parole after spending the past 40 years behind bars.
Lake County Undersheriff Ray Rose, the lead investigator on the case four decades ago, and Elk Grove Police Chief Chuck Walsh presented their case to a member of the Illinois Prisoner Review Board at the Dixon Correctional Facility. DeLuca, who's imprisoned at the facility in north central Illinois, did not attend the hearing, which is the first step in determining whether he should be released.
DeLuca and Columbo each were sentenced to more than 200 years in prison. However, under Illinois sentencing laws as they existed in the mid-1970s, they have a legal right to parole hearings every three years.
Rose, who's fought against freeing the couple at every parole hearing, submitted a letter to the board Wednesday.
"As I recall these facts, I consider what I could say to you that I haven't already told you over the past 41 years that would convince you once again not to release Frank DeLuca back into our society," Rose wrote.
His letter went on to describe the grisly scene of the triple murder of Columbo's parents, Frank and Mary Columbo, and her brother, Michael.
"This wasn't an accident," Rose said. "This was a well thought out execution of a family."
Walsh asked suburban residents to share input for the parole hearings, and he included the feedback in his letter to the board.
"To bring this up to that family is very traumatic to them," Walsh said. "That's part of the reason we feel the obligation on behalf of the family to continue doing (appearing at) these hearings every three years."
The full prisoner review board is scheduled to vote on DeLuca's case March 23 in Springfield. Columbo's preliminary hearing is set for April 25 at the Logan Correctional Center. The full prisoner review board is scheduled to vote on her case May 25.