Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Jury finds Gordon Vanderark guilty of soliciting murder of a DuPage County judge and assistant state's attorney.
A DuPage County jury has found Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC) inmate and former Wheaton resident Gordon Vanderark guilty of soliciting the murder of two DuPage County officials, DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin announced Wednesday. According to a news release from the State's Attorney's office, Vanderark solicited a fellow inmate between December 27, 2010 and November 15, 2011, to kill Judge Blanch Fawell and Assistant State’s Attorney Audrey Anderson upon the inmate's release. In December of 2010, Fawell sentenced Vanderark to 16 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections after he pled guilty to Aggravated Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol (DUI), a Class X Felony. Recently released from Centralia …
Friday, December 14, 2012
Judge rules information obtained in an interview with a man charged with soliciting someone to kill two public officials will be valid as the case proceeds.
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 …
Monday, December 10, 2012
Patch covers happenings in major court cases, including a former Wheaton man's charges of hiring a fellow inmate to kill two public officials and two others and a Naperville man's sexual exploitation trial.
Wheaton: 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 …
Friday, August 17, 2012
A Wheaton woman charged with prostitution, an inmate charged with soliciting someone to kill two public officials, a Wheaton man accused with leaving the scene of a fatal accident, and others return to DuPage County courts next week.
MONDAY, AUGUST 20 Christine Obarr, of the 400 block of Sunnybrook Lane in Wheaton faces prostitution charges after a sting by Naperville police in May. The string resulted in charges for six people with prostitution and pandering, Naperville police said. The Naperville Police Department’s special undercover unit regularly checks social media websites for suspected prostitution activity in the Western suburbs, said Naperville Police Department Sgt. Gregg Bell. Thursday’s arrests resulted from online communications and police setting up meetings at a location on Iroquois Avenue, he said. Obarr is free on $1,500 bond. She will return to DuPage County court Monday, Aug. 20 to set a trial date. Related posts: TUESDAY, AUGUST 21 Michael Delaney…
