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Law & Order CSE (Chicago Suburban Edition)

By Matt Wood in News on Mar 29, 2006 8:15PM

chicagoist_2006_03_lawandorder.jpgThe suburbs have suffered a rash of disturbing deaths and murders in the past week--not that all murders aren't disturbing, but this batch seems extraordinarily heinous and bizarre. Even more troubling is that almost all of them have a domestic element. Here's the death toll so far:

In perhaps the worst case, police say Neil Lofquist strangled and stabbed his 8-year-old daughter, Lauren, in the neck on Sunday while he was trying to drown her in a toilet. Apparently the scene was so disturbing that paramedics who tried to save her are receiving counseling.

On late Monday, a Glenview man found his 12-year-old son hanging from a strap. The Cook County Medical Examiner's office said the boy died of hanging, but while one would suspect it was a suicide, the ME said that the cause was "undetermined."

Two unrelated homicides occurred in Bellwood in the last week, plus a third in late February. On Monday, a 41-year-old man was fatally strangled, and last Thursday a 59-year-old disabled man was beaten to death in his home.

Finally, on Tuesday afternoon three family members were fatally shot in their Matteson home. Then on Wednesday, police in Ocala, Florida, found that the family's son had killed himself in a hotel room. He left for Florida last Friday, but police are investigating whether or not he had any connection to his family's deaths but police say the bodies may have been in the house for up to a week, so they are investigating the possibility that he was involved in their deaths.

Popular perception might be that the calm, quiet suburbs are less dangerous than the big, bad city, but this week at least we feel safer in the concrete jungle. Of course, there may have been a dozen suspicious deaths in the city this week that went unreported because they aren't considered newsworthy. We'd like to say something trite like "lock your doors" to sleep better at night, but apparently this week the Grim Reaper is rollin' with someone you already know.