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This just in… Chris Kelly dead

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* 3:18 pm - Chris Kelly is dead

Two sources with knowledge of the situation told the Tribune today they have been notified that Christopher Kelly, a key figure into the federal corruption probe into former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, is dead.

The Cook County medical examiner’s office today confirmed that a body identified as Christopher Kelly was brought to the morgue from Stroger Hospital.[…]

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.

* 5:22 pm - The Tribune now reports that the medical examiner said Kelly’s death was caused by “salicylate intoxication.”

According to medical reference guides, salicylates are used in anti-inflammatory and pain relief medications. An autopsy is scheduled for Sunday.

* AP

Christopher Kelly, 51, arrived at Cook County’s Stroger hospital by ambulance at 5:15 a.m. Saturday and was pronounced dead at 10:46 a.m., said spokesman Marcel Bright.

But there’s some confusion about where and when he was found and where he was first sent.

Sun-Times

Kelly was found at 7:01 a.m. by his family, according to a report given to the Cook County Medical Examiner. He was pronounced dead at 10:46 a.m., sources said. Kelly died of an apparent “aspirin overdose,” a law enforcement source said.

The Doings

Kelly, 51, of 702 Ambriance Drive in Burr Ridge, was found unresponsive at an unidentified location, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office.

Initial reports started that Kelly was taken to Oak Forest Hospital of Cook County before being taken to John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County, sources said. A medical examiner’s office source said Kelly was an inpatient at Stroger Hospital and was there for an unidentified period of time before his death.

ABC7

Kelly was transported to Stroger Hospital from an unknown address at 5:15 a.m. and was pronounced dead at 10:46 a.m., according to the medical examiner’s office.


* 12:02 am -
The Tribune now reports Kelly’s death as a possible suicide, but that it’s being investigated as a homicide…

Authorities said Kelly was in his 2007 Cadillac Escalade in the parking lot of a lumber yard at 173rd Street and Cicero Avenue in Country Club Hills — a few miles from his Markham office — Friday night when he began vomiting. Sources said a girlfriend of Kelly’s drove him to nearby Oak Forest Hospital of Cook County. The Escalade remained there Saturday afternoon, guarded by police. […]

Investigators were still at the empty Forest Lumber yard Saturday night as they looked for evidence. The remote spot, opposite insect-filled cornfields near Interstate Highways 57 and 80, was taped off as officers used flashlights to search on hands and knees.

Country Club Hills Mayor Dwight Welch said detectives were looking for cigarette butts or anything else that might be traced to potential witnesses.

Welch said authorities are investigating whether Kelly overdosed, possibly on over-the-counter medicines. The mayor also said Kelly vomited in the lumber yard’s parking lot.

posted by Rich Miller
Saturday, Sep 12, 09 @ 3:20 pm

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