--- title: Melodie Gliniewicz Faces New Charges in Fox Lake Police Case description: The widow of an Illinois police officer who reportedly disguised his suicide as a murder now faces charges that she helped steal funds canonical: https://time.com/4254966/melodie-gliniewicz-police-charges/ author: Justin Worland article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-03-11T00:52:50.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T15:48:59.899Z article:section: U.S. og:title: Wife of Police Officer Who Faked Suicide Faces Conspiracy Charge og:description: Her husband allegedly pretended to pursue three criminals and then shot himself og:url: https://time.com/4254966/melodie-gliniewicz-police-charges/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc742f5b4bb41261c/69888a93428a9e2fc4cd1c0c/gliniewicz-charges-police-officer-shooting.jpeg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Fox Lake Gliniewicz charges og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Wife of Police Officer Who Faked Suicide Faces Conspiracy Charge twitter:description: Her husband allegedly pretended to pursue three criminals and then shot himself twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc742f5b4bb41261c/69888a93428a9e2fc4cd1c0c/gliniewicz-charges-police-officer-shooting.jpeg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Wife of Police Officer Who Faked Suicide Faces Conspiracy Charge  by [Justin Worland](/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Mar 11, 2016 12:52 AM CUT  Melodie Gliniewicz, the wife of a northern Illinois police officer who authorities say killed himself after embezzling from a youth program, appears after she was indicted in Waukegan, Ill., on Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2016. Melodie Gliniewicz, the wife of a northern Illinois police officer who authorities say killed himself after embezzling from a youth program, appears after she was indicted in Waukegan, Ill., on Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2016.Chicago Tribune—TNS via Getty Images  by [Justin Worland](/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Mar 11, 2016 12:52 AM CUT The widow of an [Illinois police officer who](http://time.com/4102018/illinois-cop-gliniewicz-hitman-suicide/ "undefined") reportedly disguised his suicide as a murder now faces charges that she helped her husband steal charitable funds, according to [reports](http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/lake-county-news-sun/crime/ct-lns-new-gliniewicz-indictment-st-0310-20160309-story.html "undefined"). The allegations against Melodie Gliniewicz, 51, follow a slew of [similar charges filed in January](http://time.com/4197032/illinois-gliniewicz-wife-indicted-grand-jury/ "undefined"). The new charges are lesser in severity than the charges filed earlier this year and will not add to her jail time if she is convicted. Gliniewicz is the widow of Fox Lake Police officer Joseph Gliniewicz, who allegedly faked his own murder in September to cover up the embezzlement scheme. Law enforcement officials allege that the couple took money from a youth charity connected to the police force to pay personal expenses. Joe Gliniewicz’s death appears to have been an elaborate ruse in which the police officer pretended to have been killed by three suspects. An investigation later revealed that the gunshot wounds he suffered were self inflicted. \[[Chicago Tribune](http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/lake-county-news-sun/crime/ct-lns-new-gliniewicz-indictment-st-0310-20160309-story.html "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4254966/melodie-gliniewicz-police-charges/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4254966/melodie-gliniewicz-police-charges/"},"headline":"Wife of Police Officer Who Faked Suicide Faces Conspiracy Charge","datePublished":"2016-03-11T00:52:50.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T15:48:59.899Z","description":"Her husband allegedly pretended to pursue three criminals and then shot himself","url":"https://time.com/4254966/melodie-gliniewicz-police-charges/","keywords":["Crime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc742f5b4bb41261c/69888a93428a9e2fc4cd1c0c/gliniewicz-charges-police-officer-shooting.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Justin Worland","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/justin-worland/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc742f5b4bb41261c/69888a93428a9e2fc4cd1c0c/gliniewicz-charges-police-officer-shooting.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Fox Lake Gliniewicz charges","caption":"Fox Lake Gliniewicz charges","creditText":"Chicago Tribune—TNS via Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4254966/melodie-gliniewicz-police-charges/","name":"Wife of Police Officer Who Faked Suicide Faces Conspiracy Charge"}}]}] ```