More charges for jailed man

A man accused of killing his former girlfriend and her mother pleaded not guilty Monday to new charges alleging he tried to enlist another inmate's help to provide him with a false alibi.

Steven Zirko, 45, of the 5600 block of North Richmond in Chicago, was first charged in December 2004 with soliciting the murder of his ex-girlfriend, 38-year-old Mary Lacey and her mother, Margaret "Dolly" Ballog, 60.

The bodies of the two women were found in Lacey's home on George Court in Glenview on Dec. 13, 2004.

Lacey had been stabbed multiple times and shot twice, while Ballog also was shot twice, prosecutors said.

Zirko originally faced charges that he'd asked a Palatine chiropractor for help in finding someone to help kill Lacey, the mother of his two children.

The chiropractor refused to help and instead reported the incident to Palatine police, authorities have said.

But on Feb. 28, 2005, prosecutors charged Zirko with having committed the two murders himself.

Monday brought a third round of charges, the result of a grand jury indictment last week.

The new charges are felonies, including conspiracy to commit perjury, conspiracy to commit obstruction of justice and obstruction of justice. Each charge carries a potential sentence of one to three years in prison.

Zirko's attorney, Barry A. Spector, said prosecutors have elected to proceed with the murder charges against his client first, and he doesn't foresee the new charges having a significant impact on that case.

Neither Spector nor the Cook County state's attorney's office could provide details Monday on how the alleged alibi plot was supposed to have worked.

Zirko is next scheduled to appear in court Oct. 1.