With a double murderer on the loose and the community on edge, Buffalo Grove police needed answers fast in the June deaths of Rev. Ivon Harris and his daughter, Sarah.
Police began their investigation with boxes of possible evidence and plenty of “persons of interest,” but no suspects. Three weeks later, they believed they had their man: Russell Sedelmaier, 44, of Chicago, who police say confessed to the crime.
Sedelmaier pleaded not guilty at his arraignment last week.
Behind the scenes of the investigation were a dozen forensic scientists from the Northern Illinois Police Crime Laboratory who worked overtime, sorting through cigarette butts, clothing and hundreds of other items looking for DNA, fingerprints and other physical evidence.
“They were instrumental in that case,” said Cmdr. Don Meadie of the Lake County Major Crime Task Force. “I can’t say enough about them. They worked seven days a week for us.”
The crime lab’s speed allowed police to eliminate wrong turns quickly.
“They were able to say, `Suspect A, definitely not. Suspect B, definitely not.’ That was critical in this situation,” Buffalo Grove Police Chief Steve Balinski said.
The lab got a boost in the spring when it moved into a spacious home in a Vernon Hills industrial park. Its former space was half the size and–worse–in Highland Park’s police station, a former courthouse.
“It had to fit around a judge’s chambers,” lab Executive Director Garth Glassburg said.
With about $500,000 in federal grant money, the lab could buy new equipment, including fingerprinting gear and a giant water tank used to test-fire guns for ballistics results.
“We had one, but it was 30 years old and awkward to use,” Glassburg said.
The laboratory’s scientists, who are not police officers, can analyze just about everything that might be evidence: guns, drugs, blood and most substances that can hold DNA or fingerprints.
The lab does testing for about 200 sexual assault cases per year, 300 DNA cases in all, and hundreds of drug analyses, Glassburg said.
Included in the new space is a table big enough to hold a king-size sheet or bedspread, a common repository for DNA evidence.
“Sometimes, bedspreads from hotels come back with multiple samples,” Glassburg said.
The scientists retrieve DNA with swabs, then use computer scanners to create unique profiles.
In the drug and blood screening room, lab workers can test for nearly any drug sold on the street, with marijuana and cocaine accounting for the vast majority of cases, Glassburg said. They can also do blood toxicology tests to determine whether a suspect had drugs or alcohol in his system.
With police and prosecutors bearing the burden of proof in court, the lab stays busy.
“When we cite someone for alcohol, we have to send in a sample [to the lab] to ensure it’s really Budweiser we poured out of the can,” Glenview Police Cmdr. Frank Stankowicz said.
Lab staffers also advise police on handling and storing evidence to maintain its integrity, he said.
The crime lab’s work has become important as an interrogation tool, particularly now that police must make audio and video recordings when suspects are questioned.
“The thing you’re armed with is, you know when the guy is [lying] and when he’s not,” Balinski said.
The lab was formed in 1968 to process evidence quickly, and it is run as a non-profit company by the 37 police departments in Lake, Cook and McHenry Counties that use it. The annual budget is about $1.2 million; each department contributes about $1.15 per resident in its jurisdiction.
As early as next year, control of the lab will be switched from a private company to an intergovernmental cooperative, a change that will not affect its function, said Libertyville Police Chief Patrick Carey, president of the lab’s board.
Belonging to the lab is more expensive than using State Police facilities, and in a budget crunch several years ago, Buffalo Grove officials looked at whether it was worth the extra money, Balinski said.
“We all agreed that we couldn’t afford not to have this available to the village,” he said.
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dgibbard@tribune.com
