Kelly scarfed down around 500 aspirin tablets in a lumberyard late on a Friday night. He calls his girlfriend (he's married), she takes him to an ER where someone tries to steal his vehicle, the ER can't handle an aspirin OD so he's transferred by ambulance and dies on the way. Yeah, that happens all the time.
Christopher Kelly, key figure in Blagojevich corruption probe, is dead
Posted by Jeff Coen, Jeremy Gorner, Kim Janssen at 3:10 p.m.; last updated at 7:49 p.m.
Christopher Kelly, a key figure in the federal corruption probe into former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, is dead.
The Cook County medical examiner’s office today confirmed that Christopher Kelly of Burr Ridge was pronounced dead at Stroger Hospital at 10:46 a.m. The office said hospital officials told them Kelly appeared to have died of salicylate intoxication. According to medical reference guides, salicylates are used in anti-inflammatory and pain relief medications.
Kelly was found in a lumber yard near 173rd Street and Cicero Avenue in Country Club Hills late Friday, said the town's mayor, Dwight Welch. Kelly arrived at Oak Forest Hospital at 11:15 p.m. Friday, said Marcel Bright, a Stroger Hospital spokesman.
At Oak Forest, he was treated and stabilized and doctors determined he needed additional treatment at Stroger, so he was transferred there by private ambulance, Bright said. Kelly arrived at Stroger at 5:15 a.m.
Kely was treated by doctors and pronounced dead at 10:46 a.m., said hospital spokesman Marcel Bright.
Chicago Police are conducting a death investigation along with Country Club Hills police.
Oak Forest Hospital officials alerted authorities of Kelly's whereabouts about 3 a.m., Welch said. Police found vomit in the lumber yard parking lot, Welch said.
"We are treating this as a death investigation--it's a possible homicide or suicide, but it's a high-profile case so we have a homicide level investigation," Welch said.
Illinois State Police crime scene investigators called in by Country Club Hills continued to look for evidence in the empty lumber yard parking lot tonight. The remote spot, opposite insect-filled corn fields near Interstates 57 and 80, was taped off as officers used flashlights to search on hands and knees.
Mayor Welch, who visited the lumber yard today, said detectives were looking for cigarette butts or anything else that might be traced back to potential witnesses or suspects.
An autopsy is scheduled for Sunday, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office.
Earlier today, two sources with knowledge of the situation told the Tribune they have been notified that Kelly died. Kelly is a former confidant and top fundraiser for Blagojevich, who was accused of using his office to leverage campaign donations and benefits for himself and his family.
Blagojevich, who is out of state on his book tour, released a statement through his publicist offering condolences.
“I am deeply saddened to hear that Chris has died. My heart goes out to his wife, Carmen, his three daughters, Grace, Jacqueline, and Claire and his entire family. They are in our prayers,” the statement read.
Kelly’s attorney, Michael Monico, declined to comment today when reached by a Tribune reporter.
Kelly, who was indicted alongside Blagojevich in April, pleaded guilty this week in a separate federal case.
On Tuesday, in a surprise move just a day before his scheduled trial, Kelly, owner of a roofing business, pleaded guilty to two counts of mail fraud as part of a kickback scheme to illegally obtain $8.5 million in work at O'Hare International Airport.
At the time, Kelly, 51, said he was under pressure from federal prosecutors to cooperate in their investigation of Blagojevich, but he refused.
Kelly faced a sentence of almost 5 years in prison on top of the roughly 3 years in prison he got in June for his guilty plea to tax offenses. Kelly was ordered to report to federal authorities for incarceration by Sept. 18.
The Tribune published a profile of Kelly in December 2007 after his first indictment. You can read it by clicking here.
Posted at 03:11:11 PM in Rod Blagojevich
newsblogs.chicagotribune.com
Lots of interesting observations in these Belmontclub comments:
Sep 12, 2009 - 8:22 pm 5. wretchard:
F: I’m curious (someone in Belmont Club Land surely knows this) just how many aspirin constitute an overdose.
If you follow the Wikipedia link to the aspirin overdose entry you’ll find it says: “The acutely toxic dose of aspirin is generally considered greater than 150 mg per kg of body mass.[5] Moderate toxicity occurs at doses up to 300 mg/kg, severe toxicity occurs between 300 to 500 mg/kg, and a potentially lethal dose is greater than 500 mg/kg.” A chewable tablet of St. Joseph’s aspirin contains 81 mg. So roughly speaking it will take a little more than six tablets per kilo of body weight to do you in. So if Mr. Kelly weighed about 180 pounds that would come to 82 kilos. So he’d need to guzzle 82*6=492 to do it. So if he set to work chewing 500 tablets of St. Joseph’s in that lumberyard, he might eventually his quietus take.
Sep 12, 2009 - 8:28 pm 8. E. Nigma:
Whatever the dosage actually was, it made Rod Blagojevich’s headache go away.
And that was the hope and change he was looking for, too.
Guilty as Hell, and he’ll be free as a bird. It is, after all, the Chicago way.
Sep 12, 2009 - 8:37 pm 9. wretchard:
Wikipedia on Country Club Hills
As of the 2000 census, there were 16,169 people, 5,297 households, and 4,248 families residing in the city. The population density was 3,504.4 people per square mile (1,354.2/km²). There were 5,491 housing units at an average density of 1,190.1/sq mi (459.9/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 14.51% White, 81.90% African American, 0.15% Native American, 1.01% Asian, 0.54% from other races, and 1.88% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.73% of the population.
The top three non-African American ancentries reported in Country Club Hills as of the 2000 census were German (4.0%), Irish (3.9%) and Polish (2.5%).
Dwight Welch is apparently quite a guy.
Sep 12, 2009 - 8:40 pm 10. Annoy Mouse:
That’s a lot of aspirin. I wonder how many friends it would take to help you hold your jaw open while you volunteered to do your duty? The beauty of aspirin is they don’t leave finger prints.
Sep 12, 2009 - 9:12 pm 17. wretchard:
The other angle to this are Kelly’s links to Las Vegas and the guys who run it. This AP story hints at it, and since I can’t reproduce their stuff, it basically says he was found in the parking lot of lumber yard, had fondness for gambling in Las Vegas, engaged in fraud to cover up his gambling debts and was a good friend of the former Governor and Tony Rezko. The Chicago Tribune has this interesting vignette from Kelly’s last days.
Kelly, who admittedly loved to gamble and ran up big debts at Las Vegas casinos and elsewhere, was part of Blagojevich's tight inner circle along with convicted influence peddler Tony Rezko. Rezko is believed to be cooperating with federal prosecutors after being convicted of taking part in a $7 million payoff scheme.
ktnv.com
Sep 12, 2009 - 9:13 pm 18. Subotai Bahadur:
bigjimbo beat me to the comparison. With this regime in charge, can anyone doubt that Nacht und Nebel is not at the very least already in their contingency plans? It does seem to come together.
1) convenient deaths of those who could testify.
2) when criminal activities are revealed [ACORN's advice on how to run a child prostitution enterprise, defraud banks, and beat the IRS all in one package], let the criminals go and threaten to prosecute those who blew the whistle.
3) if charges happen to be filed against your people either just drop them [New Black Panther Party case], or send the acting deputy chief of the criminal division for the US Attorney’s Office to tell the judge that this specific individual will not be prosecuted.
Bill Richardson got off too and that IG was fired to protect an Obama crony. Obama's running his administration like a banana republic.
There are only two more aspects of a totally criminal regime left; the aforementioned Nacht und Nebel, or open attacks on enemies of the state and their families/loved ones. Anyone want to bet on how long we have before those come into play? After today in DC, I rather suspect that they feel a certain need to try to control the situation [and a certain relief that the 1.2-2 million citizens did not just start storming buildings and making assemblages of ropes and lamp-posts] and there will be counsel to step up efforts to suppress opposition.
Patriots might want to ponder what they are going to do if these steps are taken by Those Who Are No Longer Our Countrymen.
Subotai Bahadur
Sep 12, 2009 - 11:02 pm 24. ledger:
Kelly was found by his family at home – wait, I mean he was found by his “girlfriend” in his Cadillac in a deserted lumber yard… Oh, what’s the difference he is dead. The important thing is he can’t talk any more.
I seemed to recall Michael Jackson’s nanny successfully pumping his stomach and saving his life yet a hospital can’t do the same for Kelly who only took aspirin. He needed a ambulance ride. Let’s move on. There nothing to see here.
[Fox]
Christopher Kelly, 51, was Blagojevich’s former chief fundraiser, and was described by the newspaper as “go-to” guy in the ex-governor’s administration.
His family found him early Saturday morning and was pronounced dead several hours later at Cook County’s Stroger hospital, where he had arrived by ambulance, said spokesman Marcel Bright…
tinyurl.com
Sep 12, 2009 - 11:10 pm 25. Ken:
This is at least the second person involved in the Blago mess to die under suspicious circumstances.
blogs.suntimes.com
Mr Ruff died in an unwitnessed single vehicle car crash and there was no autopsy. This plays out like a bad novel.
Sep 13, 2009 - 12:05 am 28. Batman:
Aspirin poisoning is possible but difficult. While significant toxicity occurs at as little as 150 mg/kg, the LD-50 is estimated at 400 mg/kg. This means that half the people who take that dose will die without treatment. As was previously calculated, 220 lb = 100 kg. 400 X 100 = 40,000 mg. A typical extra strength aspirin of 500 mg. would therefore require 80 tablets. This could easily be dissolved and mixed with honey or some other flavor. Yes, it is probable that the person drinking that solution would vomit before absorbing the total amount.
However, if the person were taking other medications, especially anything else that reduced coagulation or interfered with platelets, or other anti-inflammatory medications, or alcohol, the LD-50 would be less; maybe a lot less.
On the other hand prompt intervention at a competent Emergency Room should be successful in reducing risks of death. A patient would get fluids, typically IV, possibly activated charcoal to absorb the aspirin remaining in the stomach, something to counteract metabolic acidosis, and possibly potassium. In extreme cases the patient can undergo emergency dialysis.
So if the patient is not too far removed from the time of ingestion and is in otherwise good health, a competent ER should be able to save him.
Therefore, this case sounds more and more suspicious with every detail.
And in whose interest would his untimely passing be?
Sep 13, 2009 - 12:28 pm 39. Subotai Bahadur:
Curiouser and Curiouser.
It seems that in addition to the contradictions in the story of how Kelly was found; the girlfriend is lawyered up, and some unknown person tried to take the SUV he was found in, away from the hospital before the police could get it.
suntimes.com
Anybody feel that this investigation is in the best of hands?
Subotai Bahadur
pajamasmedia.com |
