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Man Found Bound And Gagged In Home Was Stabbed To Death

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. (STMW) -- A man found bound and gagged in his Arlington Heights home Thursday morning was stabbed multiple times and his death has been ruled a homicide, a Friday autopsy found.

A relative of the man was taken in for questioning Thursday morning after police pursued him in a high-speed chase through several northwest suburbs.

The man, whose identity had not been released, was being questioned Thursday night in Arlington Heights. No charges had been filed as of Friday afternoon, according to Arlington Heights police.

The incident began about 8:45 a.m. Thursday when someone called 911 to report an unresponsive man in a home in the 1000 block of North Wilshire Lane, according to Arlington Heights police.

George Nellessen, 55, was pronounced dead at the scene in his home at 9:05 a.m., according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's office.

An autopsy on Friday found Nellessen died from multiple sharp force injuries and his death was ruled a homicide, the medical examiner's office said.

Nellessen was found in a chair, bound and gagged and with duct tape around his ankles, a source said.

The 911 caller also told police that a member of the victim's family had left the home abruptly and driven away in the Mercury, so police departments in the area broadcast an alert that the man driving that car was wanted.

A Schaumburg police officer spotted the car near the Harper College campus on Route 62 in Palatine about 9:30 a.m., according to police, but the driver refused to stop and continued west toward South Barrington and Carpentersville.

The driver finally stopped and surrendered to Arlington Heights officers near the intersection of Williams Place and Van Buren Street in East Dundee because his car had become disabled. A witness reported that one of its tires seemed to be falling apart.

(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2010. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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