Story posted Thursday, June 11, 2009
Letters Provide Police With Details Leading To Fatal Fire
A week after the fatal fire on Park Street, flowers and items of remembrance rest on a tree in front of the boarded up home. (Tom Wessell/The Journal)
By DWIGHT ESAU Journal & Topics Reporter
Financial pressures that got out of hand were not the only contributing factors in the fire that killed three members of the Finnerty family in Arlington Hts., but they were "certainly one of the major ones."
This was the statement of Police Cmdr. Kenneth Galinski as he and his Arlington Hts. law enforcement colleagues wrapped up their investigation this week at the Finnerty home at 105 E. Park St.
"We found two letters in the home that we tentatively determined were written by Kevin Finnerty," Galinski said. "They provided a lot of details of what happened in this incident. It appears that financial pressures were involved. One letter was located in the garage, in a place where we believe he wanted us to find it. The other one was in the master bedroom where the fire started. The letters indicated to us that he wanted to cause harm to his entire family."
Finnerty, 46, a watercolor artist; his wife, Patricia, 41, a Libertyville High School guidance counselor; and their 11-year-old son. Garrett, died in the June 2 fire. Two other children, Bridget, 12, and Pierce, 6, survived with minor injuries and are under the care of an extended family member, Jennifer Murphy.
Police also have said that Kevin and Patricia argued before the fire started, but it remains unclear what exact role the dispute played.
Galinski said local investigation at the Finnerty home has been completed, but the overall analysis and investigation is far from complete.
"This case is now in the hands of the Cook County Medical Examiner's office, which has not yet made an official ruling regarding whether this incident was a murder-suicide, which preliminary investigation led us to conclude," Galinski said. "Toxicology analysis of any substances found in the three victims' bodies will take a few more weeks to complete. Expert analysis of arson evidence by the state fire marshal's office also is needed before final judgments can be made."
Autopsies of the three victims last week revealed that Kevin died of thermal burns, and Patricia and Garrett succumbed to smoke inhalation.
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