Police: Buffalo Grove man murdered family, then killed himself
A Buffalo Grove man murdered his wife, mother and two young daughters before taking his own life last week in the family home, police said Monday, ending days of uncertainty over the tragic killings.
"Based on evidence collected at the scene, information obtained by investigators and the Lake County coroner's examination, the preliminary investigation indicates Andrei Kisliak is responsible for the homicides of Amilia Kisliak, Vivian Kisliak, Vera Kisliak and Lilia Kisliak," Police Chief Chief Brian Budds said in a written statement. "It appears Andrei then inflicted wounds on himself and succumbed to those wounds."
Police conducting a well-being check at the family's Acacia Terrace home Wednesday morning found the five bodies in what Budds called a "horrific" scene. All five victims suffered fatal "sharp force" injuries, authorities said.
"Our community is mourning, and I hope these findings help bring some closure as we continue to process this terrible tragedy," Budds said Monday.
Village President Beverly Sussman led a moment of silence for the family at the beginning of Monday night's village board meeting.
"When I first heard, I was just so shocked and saddened. It actually brought tears to my eyes to think that a whole family was gone," Sussman said after the meeting. "It's something that you don't want to hear. You hear too much of it nowadays. It was just very sad that the family couldn't straighten out the problems that they were having with counseling. To have something like that happen, there is just no words to explain it."
The killings occurred in the midst of a contentious divorce between the Buffalo Grove couple. Court filings show Vera Kisliak, 36, had told a court her husband brought home prostitutes, used drugs heavily, followed her as she took their children to school, stole her car and threatened to kill her "and disfigure her in a way that no one will recognize her," according to a Chicago Sun-Times report.
Andrei Kisliak, 39, was arrested in late September on allegations he violated an order of protection obtained by his wife. But court records show that on Nov. 1, the Kisliaks agreed to modify the protective order to allow Andrei to move back into the family home.
Friend and neighbor Natasha Kuzmenko told the Daily Herald that Vera agreed to modify the order because she wanted her husband to have a relationship with daughters Vivian, 6, and Amilia, 4.
But Kuzmenko said Vera also expressed fears her husband would harm her.
"Every time we would sit and talk, she would say, 'He's going to kill me.' She lived in fear every day. She would always think that he's plotting something against her," she said.
An online fundraiser organized by Kuzmenko to pay for funeral and burial costs for Vera, Vivian and Amilia had raised more than $63,000 as of Monday morning. The fundraiser can be found at https://tinyurl.com/2z9zzw5u.
• Daily Herald staff writer Steve Zalusky contributed to this story