Orland Park, IL: Father of Sports Figures Charged With Wife's Death

David Lohr
Contributor
(Oct. 1) -- Authorities in Orland Park, Ill., have charged the father of a TV sports reporter and a former NFL football player with murder in the shooting death of his wife.

Police arrested Allan J. Kustok, 59, on Thursday, just one day after they say he murdered his wife, Anita "Jeanie" Kustok, 58, inside their suburban Royal Oaks Lane home. The Kustoks were well known in the community for being the parents of Sarah Kustok, a popular Chicago SportsNet anchor, and Zak Kustok, a former star quarterback at Northwestern University and former NFL player with the Chicago Bears.


Orland Park PD
Police arrested Allan J. Kustok, 59, on Thursday, a day after they say he murdered his wife inside their suburban Illinois home.
Investigators learned of the shooting Wednesday, according to the SouthtownStar, after Jeanie Kustok was pronounced dead at Palos Community Hospital in Palos Heights. Kustok died as a result of a single gunshot wound, Illinois media outlets reported.

Authorities are not commenting on the specifies of the investigation, but CBS-2 Chicago, citing law enforcement sources, reported that Allan Kustok said he awoke to the sound of a gunshot at about 5:30 a.m. Wednesday. Then he reportedly found his wife lying in their bedroom with a gunshot wound to the left side of her head.

Allan Kustok also said he was so distraught that he picked up the gun and fired off several random shots, the SouthtownStar reported.

Authorities began to question Kustok's story when they discovered his wife was right-handed, which would not fit with her shooting herself in the left side of the head. They were also concerned that Allan Kustok did not call 911 and reportedly waited more than an hour before he loaded his wife into their SUV and drove her body six miles to the hospital.

The Cook County medical examiner's office ruled Jeanie Kustok's death a homicide. The Cook County state's attorney's office charged Allan Kustok with first-degree murder in his wife's death.

News of the homicide spread quickly through the Kustoks' community, where the family was well known.

"I would never expect anything like this to happen -- if it's true," Mike Navarro, a friend of the couple, told the Chicago Tribune. "They were like the perfect couple. They had a very happy marriage."

Navarro added, "I was really taken aback. Shocked would put it mildly."

According to Examiner.com, Allan Kustok once worked as a sales rep for a local medical supply company, but it remains unclear if he is still employed there. Jeanie Kustok taught at Central Elementary School in Riverside.

"She is a beautiful person with a beautiful heart,'' the school's principal, Dr. Janice Limperis, told the SouthtownStar. "If anyone had a problem, she would find a positive way to look at it. We are devastated here. Her students are inconsolable. It's like losing a family member."

Allan Kustok is scheduled to appear in court for a bond hearing later today. Afterward, authorities will be holding a press conference, during which they are expected to release more details in the case.