Trial Nears In Kustok Murder Case
BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. (STMW) -- With a week to go before Allan Kustok goes on trial for allegedly murdering his wife, one of his lawyers indicated Monday that he may need more time to review evidence in the case.
Kustok is alleged to have fired a revolver he held inches from the head of his sleeping wife early on the morning of Sept. 29, 2010 in the bedroom of their Orland Park house.
His trial is set to start Feb. 18 in Cook County Circuit Court in Bridgeview. Lawyers for both sides are scheduled to be back in front of Judge John Hynes on Thursday to try to wrap up a number of pre-trial issues.
One concerns paperwork from a blood-splatter expert hired by prosecutors, which defense attorney Rick Beuke said he had just received prior to Monday's court hearing. Beuke said it was a "voluminous" amount of notes and that Kustok's defense team might need to have their expert review them.
"At this late date it's a little disappointing," Beuke said of having just received the information.
Assistant State's Attorney Jennifer Gonzalez told the judge that there was little new in what prosecutors turned over to Kustok's attorney, with much of the information previously included in draft reports that the expert compiled.
Prosecutors say that after shooting his wife, Anita "Jeanie" Kustok, Kustok rolled her body up in a robe as well as bedsheets and drove to Palos Community Hospital.
Kustok told police that he awoke to a gunshot and found his wife lying dead on her back with her hands across her chest, a gun held in her right hand.
He is the father of Zak Kustok, a star quarterback at Sandburg High School and Northwestern University, and Sarah Kustok, a sportscaster who earned All-Area honors in basketball and volleyball at Sandburg and was a standout for DePaul University's women's basketball team.
Prosecutors hope to present jurors with evidence of Kustok's extramarital affairs and testimony from women with whom he allegedly was involved while married. Gonzalez said five witnesses that the state plans to call will be identified in court only by their initials.
One woman with whom Kustok was allegedly having an affair told her he was "not happy" in his marriage, according to prosecutors.
Hynes previously indicated that he would consider allowing at trial evidence of Kustok's affairs, siding with the prosecution that it could establish a motive, but he wanted to see the evidence firsthand before deciding whether jurors will hear it.
Hynes earlier quashed the prosecution's attempt to have evidence of Kustok's financial trouble introduced during the trial.
Kustok has been held at the Kankakee County Jail since shortly after his arrest. Beuke told the judge Monday that he will seek to have his client relocated to Cook County Jail during the trial.
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2014. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
