Inmate Allegedly Solicited Murder of Two Public Officials

A former Wheaton resident is held without bond for allegedly soliciting the murder of two DuPage County officials and two other private citizens, according to a press release Wednesday from the DuPage County State's Attorney Robert Berlin.

Between December 27, 2010 and November 15, 2011, Gordon Vanderark, 53, an inmate at the Centralia Correction Center, allegedly solicited a hit man to kill Judge Blanche Fawell and Assistant State’s Attorney Audrey Anderson, according to the release. Vanderark also allegedly solicited the murder of his ex-wife Tina Williamson and Richard Temes, an acquaintance of his.

Vanderark allegedly agreed to pay the hit man $70,000 for the killings and that he had already paid the hit man more than $2,000 in advance. After receiving information about the alleged scheme, IDOC authorities, the DuPage County Sheriff’s Office and the  conducted an investigation into the matter, which resulted in today’s charges.

“The charges brought against Mr. Vanderark this afternoon are extremely serious,” Berlin said. “Any attempt, or perceived attempt, to bring physical harm to another individual, regardless of their position in society, will be met by the full force of the law. I would like to thank officials with the Illinois Department of Corrections as wall as Sheriff John Zaruba and his staff for uncovering Mr. Vanderark’s alleged schemes.”

On December 20, 2010, Judge Fawell sentenced Vanderark, who lived in the 1200 block of Bunker Hill Court in Wheaton, 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. His next court appearance is scheduled for December 12 in front of Judge George Bakalis.