Days shy of a year since he walked into a Burlington Township home to see Jeffrey Rak dead on his bedroom floor, a Kane County sheriff’s deputy took the witness stand to describe what he learned in the early morning hours of Feb. 14, 2016.
The testimony by Deputy Michael Flannery on Thursday opened a hearing to determine whether statements made by Rak’s son, Daniel, will be allowed as evidence in his ongoing murder case. The younger Rak has pleaded not guilty to killing his 58-year-old father and remains in Kane County Jail on $950,000 bail.
Flannery explained that he was the first police officer to arrive at the Rak home on Engel Road around 3:30 a.m. after a 911 call made by Daniel Rak. Flannery said paramedics told him the person inside was dead, and he proceeded to a bedroom where he saw Jeffrey Rak on the floor with “facial injuries” which included two black eyes and bleeding from his nose and mouth. The bedroom was in disarray and he saw what he suspected to be blood spatter on the wall.
“It was suspicious in nature,” Flannery said during questioning by Assistant State’s Attorney Alex Bederka.
Flannery went on to describe conversations with Daniel Rak and his girlfriend. Flannery said that while Daniel appeared sick and intoxicated, and vomited several times over the course of an hour, he was able to engage in a regular conversation. At one point, Daniel, now 31, asked if his father was dead. When Flannery confirmed it, Daniel was “extremely upset.”
“He said … ‘I got into a fight with my dad two days ago and I punched him in the face,'” Flannery recalled Daniel telling him.
Daniel’s girlfriend, who also lived at the home, told Flannery the incident happened after Jeffrey Rak walked in on her while she taking a bath, according to Flannery, adding the woman said she heard a “commotion” after that when Daniel went to his father’s bedroom.
Kane County Public Defender Kelli Childress took Flannery down a different route with her questions that focused on what he learned about Jeffrey Rak’s issues with alcohol and general health due to his medication, as well as how intoxicated Daniel Rak appeared to the deputy.
Flannery acknowledged Daniel’s girlfriend said Jeffrey Rak was an alcoholic who took blood thinners which caused seizures and falls. Childress, in court filings, has contended the elder Rak’s death could be related to a prior injury he sustained and posed questions to Flannery about whether holes in walls could indicate Jeffrey Rak had a propensity for falling down.
The suppression motion itself argues investigators improperly questioned an intoxicated and emotionally distraught Daniel Rak while he was in custody for “more than 58 hours.” Childress has said Rak sat isolated without food and water at times before initially being released without charges. He was arrested four months later.
Childress asked Flannery about his general experience dealing with people under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Flannery said Daniel Rak’s speech was slurred and he vomited, but he did not know what Rak had consumed. Flannery, who didn’t recall smelling alcohol on Rak, did not give Rak a field sobriety or breath tests to measure his intoxication.
The suppression hearing is scheduled to resume on Feb. 16 with additional testimony from investigators.
Dan Campana is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.