Jury deliberations begin in Elk Grove Village manslaughter trial
A Rolling Meadows jury late Thursday began deliberating the fate of Timothy Zondlo, on trial for involuntary manslaughter in the death of his wife, who died after suffering a brain injury 2½ years ago in the couple's Elk Grove Village home.
Defense attorneys say Karyn Zondlo, the 46-year-old mother of two, suffered a brain bleed as a result of a tragic accident and not a crime. Timothy Zondlo, 55, who is deaf, has pleaded not guilty.
"Accidents happen every day," said Assistant Cook County Public Defender Caroline Glennon, who said Karyn Zondlo's injury occurred after her husband pushed her out of the way of a falling storage bin. "Just because he admits he caused an injury to his wife doesn't make it a crime."
"This was a tragedy for everyone," Glennon said. "To say (Zondlo) should be held criminally responsible is a shame."
Prosecutors say Zondlo's reckless behavior caused his wife's fatal injury and statements he made point to his guilt.
Karyn Zondlo, who was also deaf, died Oct. 8, 2018, a day after she was admitted to the hospital with a subdural hematoma.
The couple's oldest son, now 18, testified he heard a loud noise from the garage on Oct. 7, 2018, after which his mom entered the kitchen followed by his dad. John Zondlo testified he noticed blood on his mom's mouth. As she used a step stool to get a glass from a cabinet, Timothy yelled at her and pulled her off the stool to the ground, John Zondlo said. He said Timothy Zondlo subsequently pushed Karyn into the living room, where John Zondlo next saw his mother on the floor with his dad beside her telling him to call 911.
Interviewed by Sgt. Michael McIntyre several days after his wife's death, Timothy Zondlo said he was standing on a stool in the garage on Oct. 6 lifting a heavy bin onto a shelf, lost his balance and fell backward into Karyn, whose head struck a dartboard mounted on a wall next to a bottle opener. McIntyre noted the wall was six to seven feet away from the shelves and both items had been removed, but the mountings remained.
Zondlo also told McIntyre that the next day, Oct. 7, Karyn fell off a step stool and then collapsed on the living room floor. Zondlo also told detective his wife was not responding to his signs.
Glennon reminded jurors John Zondlo did not tell police about hearing a noise in the garage and seeing his father pull his mother off a stool until a month after Karyn Zondlo's death, days after John Zondlo had an argument with his father. The result, she said, was a son turning "grief into anger and dad gets the blame." said Glennon who suggested police may have unintentionally manipulated the teen's testimony.
Assistant Cook County State's Attorney Robert Rodemeyer emphasized in his closing argument what Zondlo didn't say. He didn't tell paramedics she fell off a stool, Rodemeyer said. He didn't tell hospital personnel she fell the previous day, he added.
"Why not?" Rodemeyer asked. He said Zondlo did not tell the nurse there was a fall until the nurse asked him about a bruise on Karyn's ear.
Responding to Glennon's claim that this case is rooted in miscommunication, Rodemeyer insisted Zondlo's statement didn't get "lost in translation."
"There was no miscommunication," Rodemeyer said. "There was no communication from this man."