'There's a lot of relief': St. Charles Twp. neighbors say murder suspect's father warned them
The knock on the door of Tom Kosturik's St. Charles Township house came Tuesday about 4:30 p.m., and it didn't bring good news.
Neighbor Joseph Sypien said his 51-year-old son, Mark, was wanted for the murder of a man in California and might be on his way to his parents' house on the 3N600 block of Bittersweet Road.
"(Sypien's father's) warning was in response to what the police told him. They believed Mark was going to make his way here to effect revenge on somebody in the area," Kosturik recalled Thursday, a day after Mark A. Sypien died from a self-inflicted gunshot to the head in his parents' driveway as police closed in.
"I was prepared for what was about to happen," Kosturik said. "There's a lot of relief with a lot of people."
Kane County Undersheriff Pat Gengler said Joseph Sypien and his wife saw their son pull into their driveway about 3 p.m. Wednesday. They barricaded themselves in the basement and called 911.
Deputies were already on the way as a neighbor had seen Sypien's Ford Escape and called for help.
Sypien turned the stolen .40-caliber handgun on himself as squad cars approached on Dean Street, the only way out from Bittersweet, authorities said. He died at Delnor Hospital in Geneva a short time later.
Gengler said sheriff's officials warned neighbors that Sypien, who court records show had an extensive and violent criminal history, could return and to be alert.
"Obviously, there's always a chance this person's going to make it back here," Gengler said. "Somebody knew to keep an eye out and called us. We had squad (cars) in the area for a couple of days."
Sypien, of Dublin, California, was wanted for the Sunday murder of his ex-girlfriend's father, John Moore, 76, of Danville, California.
As word spread Monday of the Danville murder, Bittersweet Road residents prepared for the worst.
Neighbors described Mark Sypien as cold and confrontational, and said he often walked a large Cane Corso dog.
The news prompted some neighbors to keep their kids home from school; all were relieved no one else was hurt.
"It's concerning," neighbor Bill Peterson said. "It's hard to tell what was on his mind."
A man who answered the door at the Sypien house declined to comment.
Gengler said authorities believe the gun Sypien had Wednesday was the same one used in the Sunday murder but were waiting on ballistic tests for confirmation. The gun, Gengler said, also was reported stolen out of Lisle.
Lisle Deputy Police Chief Ron Wilke said the .40-caliber Springfield X-D handgun was entered into a law enforcement database March 19, 2018, as stolen.
Wilke said Sypien began working as a sales associate for a home-based business in 2017 and the business owner later reported to police that Sypien was committing fraud and theft by writing company checks to himself and cashing them.
Police investigated, but the business owner wanted to settle the matter with Sypien without pressing charges.
The owner also reported that the gun, which was kept near the company checks, was missing and he believed Sypien stole it, Wilke said.
Kane County court records show Sypien had arrests for domestic battery and several for violating an order of protection against his ex-wife in 2005. Sypien was arrested three times in 2005 for repeatedly contacting the woman, who lived in the Elburn area.
He eventually pleaded guilty, received two years of supervision and was ordered to attend counseling.
In November 2013, he was arrested in DeKalb County on felony charges of violation of an order of protection. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 120 days in jail and two years of probation, along with alcohol/drug treatment and more counseling, records show. He violated his probation and was wanted on a warrant issued in October 2018.