Kenneth Cusick of Ottawa says if not for 12 men and women who followed their oath, he might be in prison today serving a life-ending sentence for a murder he didn’t commit. Instead, the former fire fighter is living a life where he hardly leaves the house because of what people say about him. A jury last year found Cusick not guilty of killing his wife Tracy in their home in 2006. Now he’s asking for another jury to hear a lawsuit over how the case has changed his life.
Ken Cusick, 53, was accused of forcing Tracy’s face into a toilet bowl to drown her. Cusick’s lawsuit says the first investigation of her death concluded correctly that she died on her own in an accident. Tracy’s friends and family never believed it was an accident though. They kept pressure on Ottawa police and former Coroner Jody Bernard to consider it a murder case.
Tracy Cusick
Ken Cusick accuses State’s Attorney Karen Donnelly, former Ottawa Police Chief Brian Zeilmann, retired Coroner Jody Bernard, other police officers, and forensics experts of framing him. Donnelly campaigned on prosecuting him. He alleges the defendants pushed ahead with a false and unfair characterization of him, some of them ignoring evidence that showed he didn’t do it and lying to a grand jury that eventually approved murder charges.
Cusick says they gave him a false and unfair characterization that he’ll never be able to shed. The lawsuit says some friends and family members have turned against him, his relationship with his inlaws was destroyed, he retired from his fire fighter job, and business at his family’s tavern has suffered–all because of the murder case. He’s asking for a federal court jury to determine a damage amount.
The lawsuit claims malicious prosecution, defamation, intentional infliction of emotional distress, willful and wanton conduct, conspiracy, and inappropriate practices. Also named are LaSalle County, the city of Ottawa, and unidentified city of Ottawa employees. No hearings have been scheduled yet in the case filed Thursday.