Prosecutors' Questioning Tactic Scrutinized in Murder-for-Hire Plot

This information was originally posted Monday in Patch's weekly Court Watch:

A judge recently ruled that DuPage prosecutors used an improper tactic to bring a murder-for-hire suspect in for questioning. However, Judge George Bakalis decided the information obtained in the interview, and ultimately the charges filed against Gordon Vanderark, would have been no different if the tactic had not been used, records show.

Vanderark is charged with trying to hire a fellow prison inmate to kill a DuPage County Judge and assistant state's attorney tied to a previous felony conviction that landed Vanderark in prison. Prosecutors used a confidential source to learn about Vanderark's plan and set up a "ruse" hearing on an unrelated issue to have Vanderark brought back from the Centralia Correctional Center. 

Once in DuPage, Vanderark was questioned and subsequently charged with solicitation of murder for hire. Bakalis found problems with that approach, but declined to suppress Vanderark's statements from the interview because he likely would have offered the same information if he was interviewed at Centralia, according to court records. Vanderark returns to court Dec. 17.

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• Judge Won’t Disqualify Prosecutors From Murder Plot Case
• Former Wheaton Resident Pleads Not Guilty to Murder Solicitation Charges
• Inmate Allegedly Solicited Murder of Two Public Officials