‘Every day is a struggle’: Gliniewicz widow says she’s still devastated 10 years later

A decade after Fox Lake police Lt. Charles Joseph “Joe” Gliniewicz’s death, his widow, Melodie Gliniewicz, says she has become a virtual recluse, struggling with severe panic disorder, anxiety and PTSD.

“Every day is a struggle,” she said in a written response to questions submitted by the Daily Herald to her attorney, Donald Morrison.

“I have lost my husband, my life partner, my best friend and my sounding board,” she said. “I live under constant attack and scrutiny. I can’t leave my home without being pointed at or approached. I no longer ‘trust’ people or more importantly I will never trust law enforcement.”

Before her husband’s death, Melodie Gliniewicz said she and Joe were making plans for his retirement and life beyond.

“Marriage is hard so there was always work to be done but we had been working to build a better life together. I had hopes and dreams. I am not at all hopeful anymore,” she said.

She said no one from the police department knocked on her door to deliver the news about her husband on Sept. 1, 2015. When she heard the news, she made several calls to the police department but received no information.

“If it wasn’t for a neighboring town’s fire department that came and picked me up to take me to the police department, I have no clue when they would have told me about his death,” she said.

Two days later, she remembered, an official from “the coroner’s office” came to her home and stood on her deck. Surrounded by 10 to 15 people, including family, friends and law enforcement, she said she was told, “The first bullet entered on his side and it went through his phone and halfway through his vest lodging in his side.” As for the second bullet, “the trajectory tells us that someone stood over him and shot him.”

Weeks later, her husband’s death certificate was refiled as a suicide. Law enforcement leaders held a news conference to announce “GI Joe” had killed himself and they were exploring charges against her related to allegations of financial improprieties involving Fox Lake police Explorer Post 300. Authorities said her husband had stolen thousands of dollars from the post he led for personal expenses, including a vacation and coffee shop purchases.

Melodie Gliniewicz said her story has been misunderstood and a false narrative has been spread about her. She and her family have received death threats, while her husband’s grave has been vandalized, she said.

She blames the media, saying statements from her attorneys were ignored or had key information omitted. Her role in the misdeeds of her husband has been misrepresented, she said.

In 2016, Melodie Gliniewicz was indicted by a Lake County grand jury on four counts of disbursing charitable funds without authority for personal benefit and two counts of money laundering.

Lake County sheriff’s investigators said she held a fiduciary role as an adult adviser to the police Explorers post.

In April 2022, a Lake County judge sentenced her to 24 months of probation after she pleaded guilty to a felony charge of deceptive practices.

Melodie Gliniewicz today says money “co-mingled” in the Explorer account was “being direct deposited from (Joe’s) Village of Fox Lake paycheck into that explorer account by the Village of Fox Lake.”

She said she had no access to the account and never received or reviewed any of the bank statements for the Explorer account and had no role in maintaining its records.

“(After) 7+ years of my life consumed in a courtroom, 10 years of dealing with a false narrative, 10 years of death threats, I was beyond exhausted,” she said in explaining her decision to take a plea deal. “This isn't living. It’s surviving, at best.”

Lake County State's Attorney Eric Rinehart said after her plea that he was pleased Melodie Gliniewicz was taking legal responsibility for her actions. On Friday, he expressed disappointment with her more recent claims.

“This offender plead guilty to a felony regarding deception with respect to misusing charitable funds,” he said. “If she is not taking responsibility now, 10 years later, then that is incredibly disappointing. She should be using this opportunity to improve the world by teaching others to never use charitable funds for personal reasons.”

In November, Fox Lake and the Fox Lake Police Pension Board agreed to pay a roughly $1 million settlement to Melodie Gliniewicz, resolving a long-running legal fight over survivor’s pension benefits.

She said moving forward has been difficult “when people around you have acted as judge, juror and executioner.” Finding a job was made more difficult because it took the sheriff’s office nearly three years to remove her arrest warrant out of the system.

“So every application I filled out was denied because they would see an ACTIVE FELONY WARRANT for my arrest,” she said.

She said her children endured death threats and public abuse, in addition to the loss of their father.

“My life, OUR lives, were taken from us,” she said. “We are forever changed.”