Mystery Still Shrouds Kelly Death

By Marcus Gilmer in News on Sep 13, 2009 4:30PM

Police are still investigating the death of former Blago adviser Christopher Kelly but Kelly's "girlfriend" (Kelly was married at the time of his death) is no longer talking to police and, according to Country Club Hills mayor Dwight Welch, she is "lawyered up." Which is perhaps a good thing: according to the Tribune, while the death has been investigated as a possible suicide - the Sun-Times reports that Kelly, "called a woman identified as his 'girlfriend' and told her that he took some pills and was going to kill himself" - it seems they're now treating the case as a homicide investigation due to it's high profile nature. Said Welch, "We're giving it all of the bells and whistles. Were going after every detail ... we're treating it as we would if this were a homicide. It's a high profile case, we want to do it by the books, by the numbers and do it right.''

The "girlfriend" had initially picked Kelly up near 170th and Cicero where he was vomiting (samples have been taken by police for evidence). As for the hospital timeline, the Trib pieces this together:

Welch said they are awaiting hospital records to determine when Kelly arrived at Oak Forest hospital. Police were notified at 2:58 a.m. Saturday to interview Kelly and his girlfriend, Clarisse Flores Buheldos of Chicago who told police she was Kelly's girfriend and drove Kelly to the hospital. He was transported to Stroger at 4:15 a.m. and pronounced dead at 10:46 a.m. Saturday.

Kelly wound up transported to Stroger because Oak Forest hospital does not have the necessary trauma unit. Welch also indicated that Kelly's girlfriend wasn't giving police the whole story. One official says "drugs" were found in the SUV that transported Kelly to Oak Forest hospital, along with the wallet and ID of Kelly's girlfriend, but no additional details were released. The official also told the Trib:

He said there were different drugs in the car and disputed media accounts that he died due to an overdose of salicylate's. He said some of the drugs found included prescription pain drugs in the car. He said Kelly told police at the hospital that he had undergone an operation to his "genitalia area."

An autopsy is scheduled for later today.