Judge appoints special public defender in Freund case

WOODSTOCK, Ill. (AP) - A judge has appointed a special public defender to represent an Illinois man charged in the death of his 5-year-old son.

Special Public Defender Henry Sugden was appointed Friday to the case of 60-year-old Andrew Freund Sr. of Crystal Lake. He is charged along with JoAnn Cunningham of Crystal Lake with murder in the beating death last month of Andrew "AJ" Freund. Investigators found the boy's body wrapped in plastic and buried in a shallow grave covered with straw near Woodstock on April 24.

An attorney from the McHenry County Public Defender's Office represents Cunningham. The (Crystal Lake) Northwest Herald reports Freund was appointed a special public defender to avoid a conflict of interest.

Freund and Cunningham are next due in court May 10.

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Information from: The Northwest Herald, http://www.nwherald.com