Lake and McHenry County Scanner

Former McHenry nurse sentenced to life in prison in cold case murder of disabled woman found brutally tortured

Posted: 23 May 2022 06:13 PM PDT

Peggy Lynn Johnson (left) and Linda S. LaRoche, 66, of Cape Coral, Florida (right).

A former McHenry nurse was sentenced Monday to life in prison after being convicted of murdering a young McHenry woman whose body was found brutally abused in a cornfield in 1999.

In November 2019, the Racine County, Wis. Sheriff announced that an unidentified body found in 1999 had been identified as McHenry resident Peggy Lynn Johnson.

Linda Sue LaRoche, 66, of Cape Coral, Florida, was charged with first-degree intentional homicide and hiding a corpse in connection with Johnson’s death.

The Racine County Sheriff’s Office said that on July 21, 1999, a woman walking along 92nd Street between 6 and 7 Mile Road in Raymond, Wisconsin discovered a young woman’s body lying discarded in a cornfield several feet from the roadway.

“She suffered from significant injuries and had been brutalized by many means over a long period of time,” Racine County Sheriff Christopher Schmaling previously said at a press conference.

“All of us here that have investigated deaths of individuals over the course of our careers have seen many trouble things, however, the utter barbaric brutality inflicted on this young woman is something none of us will ever forget,” Schmaling said.

Investigators spent thousands of hours over the past 20 years trying to identify the woman’s body and find her killer, Schmaling said.

Johnson’s DNA was submitted to a nationwide unidentified victims database and her body was exhumed in 2013 for more advanced forensic testing.

“She was born on March 4, 1976. She was 23 years old when she was murdered. She was born and raise in McHenry, Illinois. Her mother, father and her brother are all deceased. She has a sister whom she has never met,” Schmaling said.

Authorities said that after Johnson’s mother died, Johnson, who was approximately 18 years old and cognitively impaired, went looking for help at a medical clinic in McHenry.

She met LaRoche, a registered nurse at the clinic, who took her into her home.

Johnson lived with LaRoche in McHenry for the last five years of her life.

“There she suffered long time and horrific abuse at the hand of Linda LaRoche, ” Schmaling said.

Police took LaRoche into custody in Cape Coral, Florida, in November 2019.

Authorities previously said that Johnson had suffered blunt force trauma and burns to her body.

She also showed signs of being malnourished and sexually abused. Johnson had never been listed as a missing person.

LaRoche was extradited to Wisconsin and on March 16, a jury found the woman guilty on both charges, court records show.

LaRoche’s bond was revoked and she was ordered held in the county jail until sentencing.

A sentencing hearing was held Monday and a judge sentenced the woman to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the homicide charge.

LaRoche was sentenced to an additional five years for the charge of hiding a corpse.

Lake County Sheriff’s Canine Dax finds battery suspect in Beach Park and unresponsive woman near Libertyville over the weekend

Posted: 23 May 2022 04:48 PM PDT

Lake County Sheriff’s K9 Dax | Photo: Lake County Sheriff’s Office

Lake County Sheriff’s K9 Dax and his partner, Deputy John Forlenza, found and helped apprehend a man who allegedly battered a family member in Beach Park overnight on Saturday. Dax also located an unresponsive woman near Libertyville the next day.

The Lake County Sheriff’s Office responded around 2 a.m. Saturday to a residence in the 10000 block of West Howard Street in Beach Park for a report of a domestic battery.

Howard Tiemann, 51, who lives at the address, allegedly punched the mother of his child in the face multiple times after an argument over a lost cell phone, Lake County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Chief Christopher Covelli said.

Tiemann fled on foot from the residence before deputies arrived.

Deputy John Forlenza and his four-legged partner, Dax, tracked Tiemann for several miles and located him in the woods, Covelli said.

Tiemann fled and Dax bit him in the leg, allowing deputies to safely arrest him.

Tiemann was charged with aggravated domestic battery, domestic battery and resisting arrest.

He currently remains held at the Lake County Jail on a $150,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in court Thursday morning.

At around 3:15 a.m. Sunday, Forlenza and Dax conducted a track and found a 56-year-old woman who fled on foot after an argument in the 500 block of Greenacres Drive in unincorporated Libertyville.

The woman was intoxicated and her mental state and physical well-being were unknown, Covelli said.

Dax located the woman in the backyard of a nearby home and she was initially unresponsive.

She eventually woke up and was transported by paramedics to Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville for treatment, Covelli added.

2 hospitalized after three-vehicle crash that left car fully engulfed in flames in Lincolnshire

Posted: 23 May 2022 02:46 PM PDT

Police investigate a serious crash with injuries involving three vehicles on Route 22 near Old Mill Road in Lincolnshire Monday afternoon. | Photo: Woo-Sung Shim / Lake and McHenry County Scanner

Two people were hospitalized after a three-vehicle crash involving a dump truck that left one car fully engulfed in flames in Lincolnshire Monday afternoon.

The Lincolnshire-Riverwood Fire Protection District and Lincolnshire Police Department responded around 1:16 p.m. Monday to the area of Route 22 and Old Mill Road in Lincolnshire for a vehicle crash with injuries.

Lincolnshire Police Commander Kim Covelli said officers arrived to find three vehicles involved in the crash.

One of the involved vehicles, a 2021 Lexus coupe, was engulfed in flames.

Firefighters extricate the driver of a van who was trapped inside his vehicle after a crash at Route 22 near Old Mill Road in Lincolnshire Monday afternoon. | Photo: Max Weingardt

A preliminary investigation shows the Lexus, driven by a 25-year-old Chicago man, was traveling eastbound on Half Day Road in the outer traffic lane.

A 2021 dump truck was also traveling eastbound on Half Day Road in the inner traffic lane, Covelli said.

The driver of the dump truck, a 69-year-old Chicago man, conducted a lane change into the outer eastbound traffic lane.

At the same time, the driver of the Lexus conducted a lane change into the inner traffic lane of eastbound Half Day Road.

During the lane change, the Lexus struck the rear passenger tire of the dump truck, Covelli said.

Police investigate a serious crash with injuries involving three vehicles on Route 22 near Old Mill Road in Lincolnshire Monday afternoon. | Photo: Woo-Sung Shim / Lake and McHenry County Scanner

The Lexus then crossed into the westbound traffic lanes of Half Day Road and struck a westbound 2014 GMC van, driven by a 45-year-old Zion man, head-on.

The drivers of the Lexus and the GMC were both transported to Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville.

The driver of the Lexus is still undergoing treatment and their condition was not immediately available, Covelli said.

The driver of the GMC was treated for non-life-threatening injuries. The driver of the dump truck declined medical treatment.

The crash remains under investigation by the Lincolnshire Police Department.

Man out on bond for possessing gun at Dave and Buster’s in Vernon Hills arrested again after found with AR-15

Posted: 23 May 2022 01:34 PM PDT

Adrian Tiscareno, 18, of Wadsworth.

An 18-year-old man, who was out on bond after being caught with a gun inside Dave and Buster’s in Vernon Hills, was arrested again on Sunday after police found him with an AR-15.

Adrian Tiscareno, 18, of the 13100 block of W 27th Place in Wadsworth, was charged with violation of bond for possession of a firearm and possession of a controlled substance.

Lake County Assistant State’s Attorney Caitlin Valiulis said during a bond hearing Monday that sheriff’s deputies with the Lake County Sheriff’s Office responded around 5:30 p.m. Sunday to a man with a gun call.

Lake County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Chief Christopher Covelli said the incident occurred in the 13100 block of West 27th Place in Wadsworth.

Deputies arrived to find family members holding Tiscareno down.

Valiulis said there had been a party at the house and Tiscareno invited friends over that he was not supposed to invite.

One of the friends had to be escorted off the property. That man lifted his shirt and exposed a gun in his waistband before fleeing the scene.

The family ran for cover in the house and went into Tiscareno’s room where they found him trying to throw a bag out the window which contained an AR-15 and a bottle with Xanax pills, Valiulis said.

Deputies arrested Tiscareno and he admitted to possessing the AR-15 and the pills, which he did not have a prescription for.

Court records show Tiscareno was out on bond for another case where he was charged with three counts of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon and possession of a controlled substance late last month.

In that case, Vernon Hills police officers responded to a man with a gun call on April 23 at Dave and Buster’s in Hawthorn Mall.

Tiscareno and a second man, Brandon Mendoza, 18, of Zion, were both found with guns in their possession while inside the establishment, Valiulis said.

The 911 call to police was prompted after a customer saw Mendoza flash a handgun from his waistband, Valiulis said.

Tiscareno was released after posting 10% of a $50,000 bond in that case.

During the Monday bond hearing, Lake County Judge Theodore Potkonjak ordered Tiscareno held in the Lake County Jail on a $300,000 bond.

Tiscareno is scheduled to appear in court again on June 2.