LaSalle County man sues prosecutor and police after being found not guilty of drowning his wife in a toilet
A LaSalle County man who beat accusations that he drowned his wife in a toilet is suing the prosecutor who put him on trial, saying she conspired with local police in a frame job meant to boost her political fortunes.
A jury in December found Kenneth Cusick not guilty of murdering his wife at their Ottawa home, ending a bizarre case that began when Tracy Cusick was found unresponsive in the couple’s home on Jan. 17, 2006. Cusick told police he had found his wife, who had a history of drug and alcohol problems, with her face in a toilet.
The initial probe found no sign of foul play, but the lawsuit contends another set of investigators reopened the case and “entered into a conspiracy to frame Ken Cusick for Tracy’s purported murder.”
Tracy Cusick’s body was exhumed in 2010 for a second autopsy, which detected injuries to her throat and face. A detective testified at a LaSalle County coroner’s inquest that it would have been impossible for Cusick to drown in the toilet “without a second party exerting some outside force.”
A coroner’s jury ruled that her death was a homicide, and in 2012 her family sued Cusick, accusing him of killing her. The case was dismissed a few months later, according to court records.
The lawsuit says police tried to convince Brian Towne, the LaSalle County state’s attorney at the time, to pursue a prosecution but he declined. They then went to Karen Donnelly, the suit says, an attorney who would go on to challenge Towne in the 2016 election.
According to the lawsuit, Donnelly “saw an opportunity in this investigation to advance her goal of being elected as the LaSalle County State’s Attorney, and so without revealing her involvement in this investigation she pursued a campaign that included a promise that she would pursue charges against Kenneth Cusick if elected.
“Throughout her campaign she publicized the false assertions that there was evidence Tracy Cusick had been murdered and that Ken Cusick should be charged with her murder. She used Mr. Cusick, along with Mr. Towne, as political punching bags to secure her election as LaSalle County State’s Attorney."
Donnelly defeated Towne after a bitter campaign, and unsuccessfully tried to prosecute him for official misconduct connected in part to a controversial asset forfeiture program he ran during his tenure. He in turn sued her, claiming malicious prosecution.
Donnelly called that lawsuit, which was filed in July, a political stunt meant to help her opponent in November’s election. She could not be reached Friday for comment about Cusick’s lawsuit.
Cusick, a 53-year-old tavern manager and retired firefighter, went on trial in December and was acquitted in less than an hour after a two-week proceeding, according to local media reports.
In his lawsuit, though, his lawyers say he is still being punished.
“Following his acquittal, Mr. Cusick was not simply able to resume his normal life,” they write. "He will be forever known in LaSalle County, the place he lived his entire life, as a person who murdered his wife. Some friends and even family members have been turned against him as a result. This is a false and unfair characterization he will never be able to shed thanks to the (defendants') conduct.
“It remains extremely difficult for Mr. Cusick to (live) his life and travel anywhere in LaSalle County and beyond without people recognizing him and assuming that the things the (defendants) have accused him of are true. Mr. Cusick has gone from a person who enjoyed participating in his community to a person who rarely leaves his home other than to go to work.”
Aside from Donnelly, the lawsuit names a former county coroner, three police officers, a forensic pathologist, a forensic consultant and a plumbing expert who testified at Cusick’s trial that there are no known cases of an adult drowning in a toilet.
jkeilman@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @JohnKeilman
———
©2020 the Chicago Tribune
Visit the Chicago Tribune at www.chicagotribune.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
