Judge denies Crest Hill murder defendant’s request to exhume body of man he’s charged with killing

Patrick Gleason

A Will County judge rejected a motion from a Crest Hill man who had requested the exhumation of the body of a bartender he’s charged with shooting and killing at Izzy’s Bar in 2018.

On Monday, Patrick Gleason, 60, who is representing himself in the case, told Judge Dan Rippy he needed the exhumation of the body Daniel Rios III, 52, and to have his remains examined outside of Will County.

Gleason has been charged with Rios’ murder on March 9, 2018, at Izzy’s Bar, 507 Theodore St., Joliet. He’s also been charged with the attempted murder of Thomas Izquierdo, the son of Izzy’s owner Alfonso Izquierdo, who was wounded in the incident, as well as the attempted murder of Artis Henderson.

Gleason claimed again on Monday that he’s been framed for Rios’ murder and the video surveillance footage that captured this incident is “not real.”

“I’ve got to have this or I can’t win this case,” Gleason said of his motion to exhume Rios’ body.

Will County Assistant State’s Attorney Adam Capelli has objected to Gleason’s request to exhume Rios’ body. Capelli said in a motion that Rios has been already properly identified as the victim who was killed by Gleason.

Rippy denied Gleason’s motion to exhume Rios’ body.

Gleason’s next court date was scheduled for Jan. 18 for status on whether Gleason has obtained an attorney and setting for his trial.

Joliet police squad car at Izzy's Bar on March 9, 2018. Patrick Gleason was arrested and charged for killing a bartender and wounding another man in a shooting incident.

Gleason told Rippy on Monday that he was looking for an attorney but he did not want one with the Will County Public Defender’s Office.

Gleason was previously represented by attorney Chuck Bretz but issues between the two led to them parting ways back in August.

At that time, Bretz said he couldn’t discuss why Gleason wanted new representation, and why he withdrew from the case, as that would be privileged communication between an attorney and a client.

In the past, Gleason has cut ties with Bretz by claiming there has been a breakdown in communication between him and Bretz, who said at the time there was no merit to his previous client’s claims.

The case against Gleason will be entering its fifth year next year.

Gleason’s case was initially set to go to trial last year but that was canceled after an April 22, 2021 hearing where Bretz raised doubts about his client’s psychological fitness.

During that hearing, Gleason claimed during his testimony that the surveillance video that prosecutors wanted to admit in the case was “all doctored up,” and that he had been set up by the Joliet police and “phony witnesses.”

Gleason filed two federal lawsuits by himself in 2020 that were later dismissed.

In those lawsuits, Gleason claimed he was framed by the Joliet police and that Thomas Izquierdo and two other bar patrons “re-enacted” the shooting to “secure a conviction of first-degree murder,” in order to save the bar from a lawsuit and make Thomas Izquierdo “look like the hero.”