Court blocks ex-Fox Lake cop's bid for third murder trial

Former Fox Lake police officer John Cumbee's bid for a third trial on charges he murdered an ex-girlfriend in 1992 suffered a huge setback Thursday when a judge determined he does not even deserve a court hearing on claims his second trial was unfair.

McHenry Co. Judge Sharon Prather granted prosecutors' request to throw out Cumbee's post-conviction motion for a new trial that alleged, among other things, authorities tampered with physical evidence against him.

Cumbee, 48, also claimed his lawyers did not put on an adequate defense, in part because they refused to allow him to testify in his own behalf.

"There was no evidence to support any of his claims," Nichole Owens, criminal chief for the McHenry County State's Attorney's Office, said after Thursday's ruling.

Cumbee was sentenced in 2003 to life in prison after a jury found him guilty of killing former girlfriend Kathleen Twarowski during a rage authorities say was prompted by her decision to end their relationship.

Police said Cumbee, who also served as a firefighter in Fox Lake, beat the 21-year-old college student to death with a fire poker in his Lake County home, placed her in her vehicle and then abandoned it just across the McHenry County border.

A jury first convicted him of the murder in 1993, but an appellate court overturned the decision and ordered a new trial after ruling jurors received improper instructions. An appeal of the second conviction was denied.

The only motion to which Prather gave any credence Thursday was one by prosecutors seeking sanctions against Cumbee's defense. The judge scheduled a hearing next month on the matter.

"Our position is that his motion was frivolous and our office should be reimbursed for the time we spent working on this," Owens said.

Cumbee attorney Dan Mengeling could not be reached immediately for comment.