Questions abound in case about the death of a police sergeant — people are starting to look at the wife

Chicago police Sergeant Donald Markham was found shot to death in the master bedroom of his home, leading police to rule the death a suicide, but months later the Federal Bureau of Investigation received a tip that Markham’s death may have been a murder.

Videos by Rare

Markham lived in the Northwest Side of Chicago with his wife, Dina, who FBI investigators began to suspect had involvement in her husband’s death upon reopening the case, according to the Sun Times. During the process of the case, the FBI made contact with the Chicago Police Department’s Division of Internal Affairs urging them to look into the Markham case more carefully.

Related: Two police officers were shot this week in Chicago: “It’s a miracle the officers are still alive”

Suspicion arose when it was brought to the investigator’s attention that the dead officer’s widow had worked in internal affairs for years up until June 2016, when she was transferred over to the Area North Detectives Division at Belmont and Western. Interestingly, Dina’s new assignment also presented a conflict of interest as she was placed in the same detective division that ruled her husband’s death a suicide, according to the Sun Times.

New records appear to show when internal affairs stepped aside from the case in February, Dina was already working at Area North, according to the Sun Times. The case was handed off to the city of Chicago’s inspector general’s office, who began their own investigation on how police handled Sergeant Markham’s case.

Several questions have been raised on the ruling and initial investigation such as why Dina wasn’t tested for gunshot residue to determine if she fired a gun. Police reports indicate that the couple had been fighting earlier that evening at a bar, continuing the discussion on the ride home that night and after.

Related: Two plain-clothes police officers were shot in Chicago 

Last month, Dina told the Sun Times she was unaware of the reopening of her husband’s case and, six days later, on May 28, she was found dead in the bathtub of the home her husband died in in what police believe to be a possible suicide. Her death is under investigation as the Cook County medical examiner’s office awaits toxicology reports to determine her cause of death.

To add to the suspicion of the case, the Area North detective who was Dina’s boss showed up at the house after her body was found. Duffin, the detective, led the officers who investigated Markham’s death, but will not be involved in the investigation into Dina’s. Most authorities involved in the case decline to comment, according to the Sun Times.

 

 

 

 

What do you think?

Buc-ee’s: from convenience store to Texas institution

The guy who tried to start a #KillRepublicans hashtag after Rep. Scalise was shot is still at it