The investigation into the death of the former chief fundraiser for ousted Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich intensified as medical examiners completed an autopsy and detectives looked into whether drugs found in the trusted aide’s vehicle might have been factors in his death.
Dwight Welch, the mayor of suburban Country Club Hills where Christopher Kelly was found slumped over his vehicle’s steering wheel in a lumberyard, said that a number of drugs were found in the former fundraiser’s black Cadillac Escalade.
Welch said in a telephone interview on Sunday morning that it was his understanding that Kelly had told an officer at the hospital that he had “taken on overdose of something.” But on Sunday afternoon he backed off that statement and said he was not “confirming or denying” that Kelly had made such a statement to police.
The Cook County Medical Examiner’s said on Sunday it couldn’t determine the cause of death until toxicology tests are completed in three to six weeks.
Kelly, 51, died Saturday morning at a Chicago hospital, and Welch said police were investigating the death as a suicide but giving the case the priority of a homicide.
An admitted high-stakes gambler who once haunted Las Vegas’ card tables, Kelly was facing at least eight years in prison after pleading guilty to fraud charges in two separate cases, and he was scheduled to start serving his time on Friday.
Welch said detectives want to interview Clarissa Flores-Buhelos, 30, who he said was Kelly’s girlfriend. Flores-Buhelos told police she found Kelly Friday night slumped over the wheel of his Escalade at the lumberyard, Welch said. Kelly is believed to have rented storage space nearby.
The mayor said it appeared Kelly called or text-messaged Flores-Buhelos and asked her to meet him at the lumberyard. He said she told police she pushed Kelly into the passenger seat and drove him to Oak Forest Hospital for treatment.
Kelly arrived at the hospital at 11:15pm, and was transferred six hours later to a Chicago hospital for treatment. He was pronounced dead on Saturday at 10:46am.
He was facing three years in prison for hiding US$1.3 million in income and five more years for taking part in an US$8.5 million fraud involving roofing work on hangars at O’Hare International Airport.
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