Defense Wants New Warrant to Search Kustok’s Cell Phone

Attorneys for Allan Kustok, who is accused of shooting and killing his wife, want prosecutors to further justify the need for searching his cell phone, after prosecutors said new technology would allow greater access to evidence on the phone.

  Whether additional evidence gathered from Allan Kustok’s cell phone is allowed in court for the murder case against him will not be decided until March at the earliest. In November, Assistant State’s Attorney Jennifer Gonzalez said during a hearing that technology not available in 2010, when Kustok was accused of murdering his wife Anita “Jeanie” Kustok, would allow a deeper look into data on Allan Kustok’s cell phone, including email archives and Internet use. Judge John J. Hynes asked attorneys for Kustok and prosecutors in December to make arguments as to why new evidence from Kustok’s phone should or shouldn’t be admitted, using any case law they felt would be relevant. On Friday, Hynes’ decision on whether to include the new …

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DNA Testing on Kustok Evidence Expected to Begin

Allan Kustok's defense lawyer worries testing of pillow, pillowcase, clothes and the gun will destroy the blood evidence.

A judge will allow DNA testing of blood-splattered evidence taken from the bedroom where Jeanie Kustok was shot, though her husband's defense lawyers fear the evidence will be destroyed in the process. Allan Kustok is accused of shooting his wife in their Orland Park home on Sept. 29, 2010. He's charged with murder. Judge John J. Hynes accepted a request Monday by the state to perform tests that would result in “DNA consumption.” In other words, testing to determine whose blood is on several items found in the Kustoks’ bedroom will likely destroy the blood samples. Among the items that will be tested are a pillow, pillowcase, pair of men’s glasses, a pair of shorts, a grey t-shirt and a .357 Magnum handgun found at the scene. Defense …

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Surveillance of Kustok Arriving at Hospital Entered as Evidence

As the court case for Allan Kustok, charged with murder in the shooting death of his wife, enters its sixth month, a DVD of surveillance video from Palos Community Hospital has been added to the case file.

Evidence has finally been exchanged, six months after Allan Kustok was first accused of shooting his wife, Anita “Jeanie” Kustok. A DVD with surveillance footage taken at Palos Community Hospital on the morning of Sept. 29 was entered into Kustok’s case file. After a brief court hearing Monday morning, Kustok’s defense attorney Rick Beuke said the DVD is a start, but he is still waiting to see police reports made shortly after Kustok was charged with one count of first-degree murder. "The DVD is the only other thing we have received,” Beuke said. “We are still waiting on the police reports, and we’re not sure why after six months. We’re hoping we can get this moving and set a trial date." Cook County Assistant State's Attorney Jennifer …

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Baba Wawa

5:53 pm on Sunday, April 3, 2011

John, this isn't Law & Order. Speedy trial rules do apply -- only if the defendant demands trial. So far, the defendant has demanded trial and won't demand trial because they don't have all the discovery. A defendant isn't going to demand trial when they don't have all the discovery from the State. But there ARE witnesses to interview; i.e., police officers, detectives, doctors, the medical …   more ›

Could Finances Have Played a Role in Kustok Killing?

Mortgaged to the hilt, the Kustoks were under financial strain. While motive hasn't been discussed, experts say a family's struggle with money issues often factors into violent behavior.

The brick two-story house next to the horse farm on Royal Oaks Lane didn't come cheap. County records show that between 2001 and 2003, the Kustok family took out two mortgages on their nearly $700,000 Orland Park home. In 2006, they took out a third mortgage, borrowing against the property's rising value. Area real estate brokers say multiple mortgages are rare in Orland Park and Orland Hills. Allan Kustok, a salesman for RTI Biologics, was charged on Sept. 30 with first-degree murder in the shooting death of his wife, Anita Kustok, a school teacher at Central Elementary School in Riverside. Bail was set at $2 million and he remains in custody at the Kankakee County Jail. A motive for the crime has not been established yet in court, and …

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PHOTO: Northwestern Football Players Wore Kustok Initials

Players show support for Zak and Sarah Kustok after the loss of their mother Anita "Jeanie" Kustok.

Northwestern University football players showed support for former quarterback Zak Kustok and his sister Sarah on Saturday. Players donned decals with the initials "ZK" and "SK" on their helmets during the Saturday game against Perdue, in a showing of support as Zak and Sarah Kustok mourn the loss of their mother, 58-year-old Anita "Jeanie" Kustok. "The players wanted to keep Zak and Sarah in their thoughts and prayers," Mike Wolf, assistant athletic director at NU, said. Decals have been worn for other honors, though the showing for Zak and Sarah Kustok is "a one time thing," Wolf said. NU Football Coach Pat Fitzgerald attended memorials for Anita, as did athletic director Jim Phillips and other NU faculty, staff and alumni. Zak Kustok …

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Editor's View

Covering Tragedy: Thoughts On Reporting Bad News

Following the memorial service and visitation for Anita “Jeanie” Kustok, we look at the purpose of reporting on tragedies.

About two years ago, I could be found every morning in the DeKalb Police Station, hunched over a stack of reports. The press table stood right next to the window where people came in to pay tickets, bail others out and demand justice for crimes against them. Police business. Few people ever took note of me, as I scribbled away into a notebook. Then one morning a woman asked me if I was a reporter. I said yes. She then snorted with real effort and said, "You're probably thrilled when awful things happen. I bet you get real excited when you get to write about tragedy." It takes a lot to offend me, but this woman succeeded in seconds. "No," I said. "I live here, too. Down the street from the station. And I don't want anything bad to happen to…

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Jeanie Kustok's Many Families Gathered for Her Funeral

"She was an angel," says her daughter as hundreds of family and friends of the slain schoolteacher from Orland Park met in Calumet City for a funeral Mass Thursday.

The day Jeanie Kustok died, the Orland Park woman's spirit followed her children. At Thursday's funeral Mass in Our Lady of Knock Catholic Church in Calumet City, Zak Kustok told mourners how he ordered a meal from a Panera restaurant with his family on the day his mother died. He ordered a turkey sandwich but received a tuna salad, instead. "Sarah said 'Every time mom and I went to Panera she ordered a tuna salad sandwich,'" Zak said. "If we didn't already know she was with us always, she wanted to make sure it was ingrained and sent that down." Recalling his mother's warmth and strength, the former Northwestern football star thanked attendees for being at the service and for stopping by Wednesday's visitation in Lansing to mourn with him…

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