Crest Hill murder defendant wants to exhume body of man he’s charged with killing

A Crest Hill defendant in a 2018 Izzy’s Bar fatal shooting case is seeking to exhume the body of the man he’s charged with killing.

Since August, Patrick Gleason, 60, has been representing himself in a case where he’s charged with the 2018 murder of Daniel Rios III, 52, who was a bartender for Izzy’s Bar, 507 Theodore St., Joliet.

Gleason also is charged with wounding Thomas Izquierdo, the son of Izzy’s owner, Alfonso Izquierdo, in the shooting and firing shots at Artis Henderson.

The case against Gleason has yet to be resolved after more than four years.

The case has been delayed over issues regarding Gleason’s fitness to stand trial, Gleason having disputes with his previous attorney, Chuck Bretz, over his legal representation, and Gleason claiming without evidence that he was framed by the police for Rios’ murder.

With Bretz no longer his attorney, Gleason decided to file his own motion Nov. 18 requesting to exhume Rios’ body.

Judge Dan Rippy has not yet ruled on the motion, which is facing opposition from prosecutors. Gleason’s motion is scheduled for a hearing Dec. 12.

“Defendant needs the medical examination to reprocess and analyze the DNA of the victim due to the negligence of the state using unorthodox means to procure a sample from the victim, violating defendants rights,” according to Gleason’s motion.

Gleason’s motion requested that the results of that work be sent to him at the Will County jail, where he’s been held since March 11, 2018.

In a hand written portion of the motion, Gleason also requested Rios’ body’s undergo examination by the Grundy County Coroner’s Office for the “true cause of death.”

Will County Assistant State’s Attorney Adam Capelli filed an objection to Gleason’s motion that said Gleason has not articulated “with any particularity a valid or legal reason why an exhumation should be conducted.”

Capelli concluded exhumation of Rios’ body would also be “unnecessary and irrelevant” because the victim Gleason is charged with killing has been properly identified as Rios.

“Furthermore, the DNA of the victim was collected at the autopsy and is in evidence with the Joliet Police Department,” Capelli said.

Capelli noted that the cause of Rios’ death from a gunshot wound is not in dispute and that the incident was captured from surveillance video from Izzy’s Bar.

A forensic pathologist’s ruling on Rio’s cause of death is “consistent with the video footage obtained from the location of the offense,” Capelli said.

Citing case law, Capelli said the state believes the exhumation of Rios’ body would result in “desecration rather than an investigation.”