Jury deadlocks in Elk Grove Village manslaughter case
"I'm not going to change my mind in a bazillion years."
The Rolling Meadows jury deliberating the fate of an Elk Grove Village man charged with involuntary manslaughter in the death of his wife indicated in a note to the court late Tuesday that one member had taken that stance after coming to a conclusion early in the trial process.
As a result, the jury - after four days and more than 26 hours of deliberation - was deadlocked, prompting Cook County Judge Joseph Cataldo to declare a mistral in the case of Timothy Zondlo, charged with the 2018 death of his wife, Karyn Zondlo, a 46-year-old mother of two sons.
Karyn Zondlo, who was deaf, died of a subdural hematoma, or bleeding on the brain, on Oct. 8, 2018, one day after she was admitted to Amita Health Alexian Brothers Medical Center in Elk Grove Village.
Defense attorneys say her death was accidental, that she suffered the fatal injury when Timothy Zondlo, who also is deaf, either pushed her out of the way of a storage bin falling from a shelf in the couple's garage or fell backward into her as he attempted to lift a heavy bin onto the shelf.
Timothy Zondlo said she struck her head against a wall where a dartboard and bottle opener were mounted, according to defense attorneys, who said the case was rooted in miscommunication.
Prosecutors say the defendant's reckless behavior caused his wife's fatal injury. Pointing to Zondlo's differing accounts of that injury, they say his inconsistent statements indicate his guilt.
A month after Karyn Zondlo's death, the couple's now 18-year-old son told police he saw his father pull his mother off a stool onto the floor as she was reaching into a kitchen cabinet for a cup.
His mother collapsed in the living room moments later, according to John Zondlo, who testified his father told him to call 911 but not to mention what had happened in the kitchen. John Zondlo testified he told police the information following an argument with his father.
The holdout juror, who said he voted to convict Timothy Zondlo, believed John Zondlo's account.
"I said to the jury, 'The father was being manipulative because he told his son to lie to police,'" said Jon Mitchell as he left the courthouse Tuesday.
"We deliberated for over 20 hours, and at times the deliberations got heated," Mitchell said. "We rarely agreed on anything."
The remaining 11 jurors declined to comment on the case.
Timothy Zondlo's retrial is set for June 21.