Ex-police officer wants new trial
Former Fox Lake police officer John Cumbee may be a murderer, at least according to a pair of McHenry County juries, but one thing he's not, it seems, is a quitter.
Cumbee, 49, is trying once again to win a new trial on charges he killed ex-girlfriend Kathleen Twarowski in 1992, claiming once again he did not receive a fair trial the last time a jury found him guilty of first-degree murder.
It's an effort McHenry County prosecutors hope to derail today by asking a judge to toss out his request without any further court proceedings.
The request labels Cumbee's claims "incendiary and baseless allegations" that, if he is to believed, wouldn't have made a difference in his second trial's outcome.
"There is no reasonable probability that any of his allegations, even assuming they are true, would change the verdict of the 12 individuals who found him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt," Assistant McHenry County State's Attorney Donna Kelly writes in court documents.
Cumbee filed a petition seeking a new trial last year, after a state appeals court turned down an appeal of his second conviction.
In the 182-page petition, Cumbee alleges authorities tampered with evidence against him and that his lawyer failed to put up an adequate fight by, in part, not allowing him to testify in his own defense.
Cumbee also is asking a court to order a new round of DNA testing on physical evidence linked to the case, including blood and hair samples as well as a broom taken from his home after the murder.
A jury found Cumbee guilty of killing Twarowski in 2003, siding with authorities who said he beat the 21-year-old college student to death with a fire poker during a jealous rage in his Lake County home.
Cumbee, who also worked as a Fox Lake firefighter before the murder, is serving a life sentence at the Statesville Correctional Center.
A question of fitness: Doughnut jokes aside, working as a patrol officer for a police or sheriff's department can be a physically demanding job.
That is why McHenry County Sheriff Keith Nygren says he dismissed 17-year veteran deputy Robert Schlenkert last year after he failed four physical fitness tests last year.
Schlenkert responded earlier this year with a lawsuit seeking to overturn the decision, saying Nygren was not acting within his authority. He is asking a court to reinstate him to his post and order the sheriff's department to give him back pay since his dismissal.
Now we finally know when Schlenkert will have his day in court. McHenry County Judge Maureen McIntyre earlier this month scheduled an Oct. 15 hearing to determine whether the deputy's firing was justified.