Retiring Task Force Head George Filenko Has No Regrets About Gliniewicz, Calusinski Investigations
(CBS) -- The Lieutenant Joe Gliniewicz case captivated the nation and now the man in charge of that investigation, Commander George Filenko, is stepping down in his role as head of Lake County's Major Crimes Task Force.
"I had always set the benchmark that was my 60th birthday to retire from the task force or leave the task force and I turned 60 this past weekend," Filenko said.
So he penned his retirement letter. Filenko says he first shared his intentions of retiring from the Lake County Major Crimes Task Force last May, but decided to stay through summer, which is usually a busy time, and was it ever.
The suicide of Fox lake Police Officer Lieutenant Joe Gliniewicz staged to look like a murder thrust Filenko into the national spotlight and raised questions about why the case was pursued as a murder for several weeks.
"If we had said too much, we potentially could have jeopardized what could have been a homicide," Filenko said. "By saying to little, it left the community wondering whether they had three murderers running around."
He said he has no regrets about his handling of the Gliniewicz case and another high profile case, that of Melissa Calusinki, who admitted assaulting a toddler after a bruising interrogation by Filenko.
Lake County Coroner Thomas Rudd says the boy wasn't murdered and Calusinski is innocent. Filenko says that played no role in his decision to retire.
"She needs to come home she didn't do this…he's doing the right thing by stepping down," said Paul Calusinski, Melissa's father.
