Details Emerge About Kelly's Death, But Questions Remain

By Marcus Gilmer in News on Sep 14, 2009 2:00PM

Two days after his death, while pieces of what happened are falling into place, plenty of questions still swirl around Christopher Kelly. An autopsy of former Blagojevich adviser Christopher Kelly proved inconclusive and the Cook County medical examiner's office claims they'll need more tests and investigations before they can rule on an official cause of death. Kelly was found by his girlfriend in his SUV late Friday night, parked in a lumber yard, and having swallowed a large number of pills - the Trib reports, "Tylenol wrappers and a large container of pills were found in Kelly's SUV."

Kelly's girlfriend, Clarissa Flores-Buhelos, arrived at the lumber yard after exchanging text messages with Kelly and transported him to Oak Forest Hospital. As for the accusation made by Country Club Hills mayor Dwight Welch that Flores-Buhelos was no longer cooperating with police, her attorney, Terry Gillespie, told the Sun-Times she was meeting with investigators and, for emphasis, added, "The mayor's a jackass; you can print that."

At Oak Forest Hospital, Kelly was coherent enough to speak with a police officer. According to the Trib:

The police officer who interviewed Kelly in the hospital said he told him that he took Tylenol for pain because of recent surgery, said Country Club Hills Police Chief Regina Evans...Later, Kelly became "very defensive," Welch said. He told an officer: "I know what you are trying to do. You are trying to trick me," according to Evans. The officer said Kelly did not admit to trying to kill himself, she added.

Adding to the surreal nature of the case, the Trib also mentions a "mystery man...who unsuccessfully tried to pick up Kelly's SUV from the hospital with keys in hand" that police are still trying to identify. Kelly was stabilized and transported to Stroger Hospital. Officials defended the decision to send Kelly to Stroger instead of a closer hospital, saying the trauma center was better equipped to handle Kelly.

Never one to keep himself out of the limelight, former governor Rod Blagojevich officially responded to the incident over the weekend. On his weekly radio show on WLS, Blago took to Kelly's defense, saying, "Chris Kelly took his life because of the pressure he was under. He refused to make it easier on himself to lie about someone else...My friend Chris Kelly's death will not be in vain." [Tribune, Sun-Times]