Crystal Lake mom says jailed son wanted to harm himself

Last Sunday afternoon, right before doctors took 42-year-old Thomas Puchmelter off life support, his mother Elizabeth held a cell phone to his ear so his two brothers in California could say goodbye.

“The tough thing for me was to say goodbye to him,” said Elizabeth Puchmelter, 70, of Crystal Lake. “It absolutely breaks my heart because no matter what you go through with your children, they’re still your child.”

Elizabeth Puchmelter said her son was found hanging by his bunk bed sheets the night of Friday, Feb. 18, at the McHenry County jail and lapsed into a coma after the jail staff found him.

Officials at the sheriff’s department, who have declined further comment until an internal investigation is complete, told Elizabeth Puchmelter that guards had checked her son’s cell — where he was alone — every 20 minutes.

She wishes she could have told jail officials her son could harm himself, but she was still in shock and recovering from a baseball bat attack on Feb. 15 that landed Thomas in jail to begin with.

“I knew he was suicidal and I thought the jail knew he was suicidal,” said Elizabeth Puchmelter. “But evidently when they did the intake for him, no one did anything.”

Last Tuesday, the McHenry County Sheriff’s Department announced it was investigating Puchmelter’s death.

McHenry County Undersheriff Andrew Zinke said last week that Puchmelter’s injuries appeared to be “self inflicted” but would not elaborate.

Zinke said an internal report was in the works and would be complete soon. The Daily Herald has submitted a Freedom of Information Act request for documents relating to the investigation.

Elizabeth Puchmelter said her son was troubled and moved back to Crystal Lake in 2008 after falling down a flight of concrete stairs and breaking his hip while on a construction job in California.

She says Thomas was taking anti-anxiety medication and was probably mentally ill. She said her son went to prison in Joliet earlier in his life and was terrified of going back.

Thomas Puchmelter faced felony abuse charges from the Feb. 15 domestic altercation and was being held on $25,000 bail.

“I really think that he was totally despondent about the possibility of going back to prison,” she said.

“It’s just one of those things. He wanted to go. That’s it. Bottom line. Maybe it shouldn’t have happened, but he made it happen.” Elizabeth Puchmelter donated her son’s organs after he was removed from life support.

The family has a private memorial service planned next month in California, and a local service was planned for noon Saturday at St. Thomas the Apostle Church, 469 Lake St., Crystal Lake.