Samantha Harer: Joliet Detective Not Asked To Re-Interview Flores

JOLIET, IL — Now that prominent New York City Attorney Jennifer Bonjean has re-filed her Samantha Harer wrongful death lawsuit in Will County, Joliet Patch continues to reexamine key aspects of the 2018 police investigation that treated Harer's death as a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

No criminal charges resulted for her estranged boyfriend, Crest Hill Police Officer Felipe "Phil" Flores, who is the defendant in the Will County civil lawsuit.

"We're just pushing ahead with the case and hopefully there will be progress soon," Bonjean told Joliet Patch on Sunday night.

On Feb. 13, 2018, Channahon's Police Department activated the Will-Grundy Major Crimes Task Force for assistance investigating the death of Harer. The 911 call made from her apartment came from Flores, her estranged boyfriend, who was off duty at the time.

Joliet Police Detective Carlos Matlock was called to Channahon to help with canvassing the apartment complex tenants.

Matlock is one Will County's most seasoned homicide detectives, with more than 20 years experience investigating homicides for Joliet police. In May 2021, Matlock answered questions in a lawsuit deposition about his role in the Harer case. Since 2021, Matlock has served as Joliet's deputy chief of criminal investigations.

On Feb. 13, 2018, Matlock and Will County Sheriff's Investigator R.J. Austin were asked to interview Flores, within hours of the deadly shooting in Channahon. Harer's lawyer asked how he and Austin were chosen by the Will-Grundy task force.

"I believe it was random. I don't really know," Matlock testified.

Flores Wasn't Considered A Suspect On Day One

Prior to interviewing Flores, Matlock attended a Channahon Police Department briefing, led by fellow police officials with the Will-Grundy Major Crimes Task Force. "There was never a conversation of him being involved in this," Matlock testified. "He was a witness."

"And fair to say also that you understood that at least he was saying that she shot herself in the head; right?" Bonjean inquired.

"Yes," Matlock agreed.

Before the interview, Matlock learned that two apartment complex witnesses heard Harer yelling, "Let me go," loud banging on one of her walls, then silence.

"And his version of events was not consistent with the neighbors' accounts, correct?" Bonjean asked.

"That is correct," Matlock anwered.

"Who would you say as a detective has more to gain by telling a falsehood about this, the neighbors or Mr. Flores?"

"Oh, Mr. Flores would," Matlock replied.

"Did you ask Flores about whether the struggle started in the bed or whether there was any type of struggle in the bedroom?"

"I did," Matlock responded.

"What did he say?"

"He never touched her or had a struggle."

"So can we agree that those are sort of inconsistencies in the narrative?"

"Those are inconsistencies, yes," Matlock agreed.

During his deposition, Matlock revealed that the Will-Grundy Major Crimes Task Force did not provide him with any forensics analysis or the 911 call Flores made.

Detective Matlock Not Made Aware of GSR Testing

"What about the fact that he had blood spatter on his sweatshirt, and he says he wasn't in the room when she was shot, how did you reconcile that?" Bonjean wondered.

"I never knew there was blood spatter on him, I don't believe," Matlock answered.

"No? That wasn't information that maybe would have been useful to have?" Bonjean asked.

"It would have been useful to have," Matlock agreed.

Bonjean turned her attention to the gunshot residue tests.

"Okay," Bonjean began, "What about the fact that he's covered in GSR?"

"I did not have that information as well," Matlock testified.

"Well, let's talk about it," Bonjean explained. "He had GSR on his right hand. He had GSR on his left cuff of his sweatshirt and the right cuff of his sweatshirt. Would you find that to be an interesting or, you know, to have some evidentiary value that would dictate maybe your thinking about who you're talking to?"

"If I would have known that, we would have talked about it," Matlock replied.

"Would it also have been significant to you to know that she did not have any GSR on her hands?"

"If I would have known that, that would have been something that I would have discussed with him as well," Matlock responded.

"If the officer who took the GSR evidence kit had informed you that the presumptive test was actually positive before you interviewed Flores, do you think that would have been helpful information to use during the course of your questioning of him?"

"Absolutely," Matlock testified.

"I'm assuming you did not have that information?"

"I did not," Matlock agreed.

Bonjean's lawsuit contends that Flores fatally shot Harer and staged her death to appear she took her own life. Bonjean contends that Flores became jealous and irate after suspecting Harer was cheating on him with multiple men on Plainfield's Police Department.

On Feb. 13, 2018, the 23-year-old off-duty WESCOM 911 dispatcher was found in the nude on her bedroom floor, after suffering a fatal gunshot.

Flores had stayed overnight in her apartment.

"Did you know that he had been previously accused of sexual assault?" Bonjean asked.

"I did not know that," Matlock responded.

"Okay. Can we agree that when you went in to interview Mr. Flores, it was pretty early on in the investigation; right? Same day?"

"Yes, it was."

"Did you have any of the text messages or email communications or any of the electronic forensics to look at?"

"No, I did not."

"Okay. Did you have a tox report to look at?"

"No, I did not."

"Did you talk to her parents or any of her friends to determine whether she was suicidal?"

"No, I did not," Matlock replied. "There was a lot of information that you say that I did not have that I know now."

Matlock Talks About Gun Deaths Involving Women

Bonjean asked if Matlock interviewed Flores "with very limited information."

"I would agree to that," Matlock testified.

"Okay. Now, I know you said that the fact that he had been previously accused of a sexual assault, I guess, was not particularly compelling to you one way or the other because there was not much parallel between a sexual assault and this event, according to you; right?" Bonjean inquired.

"I didn't say that," Matlock responded.

"I mean you do realize that Samantha Harer was found nude; right?"

"I do not know how she was found," Matlock testified.

"So have you ever heard of a woman getting up naked, arguing, completely naked, with somebody and then committing suicide through a gunshot wound? Have you ever even heard of anything like that?" Bonjean asked.

"I am not saying it's impossible," Matlock responded.

"Nothing is impossible. But as a detective, you've investigated suicides before; right?"

"Yes."

Bonjean asked if Matlock investigated any cases where a woman shot herself in the head?

"I don't recall the names of each, but I've investigated several females that shot themself in the head," Matlock told her. "One was in a van sitting in front of someone's house. I think she was living in the van actually. So, yes, I have investigated females that have shot themselves. Several of them."

"Okay. Was she naked, the woman in the van?"

"No. She was a hoarder. She was living in the van."

"And she shot herself in the head; is that right?"

"That's absolutely correct."

"Was that in Joliet?"

"Yes, it was."

When asked about the 911 call Flores made, Matlock testified he had not listened to it, prior to interviewing Flores.

"Why not?" Bonjean wondered.

"I'm not sure why I didn't listen to that tape," he replied.

"Do you know whether that was available to listen to prior to your interview of Flores?"

"I do not recall. I don't know."

Nobody Asks Matlock To Re-Interview Phil Flores

"Because if the 911 tape, which was him making the 911 call, had some inconsistencies with what he was telling you, wouldn't that prove helpful in determining at least whether he was being completely forthcoming?" Bonjean asked.

"That is true, yes, it would," Matlock replied.

"Detective, did you do anything to confirm what Phil is saying here that she told him that she took twelve Xanax?"

"I did not, no."

"Can we agree that taking twelve Xanax is a lot of Xanax?" Bonjean asked.

"I would agree with that, yes."

"Did you ever learn that the toxicology report did not corroborate that?"

"Still today I do not know," Matlock testified in 2021.

Bonjean asked if anybody reached out to Matlock to conduct a second interview with Flores at any point in time.

"Absolutely not," Matlock answered.

"Did anybody conduct a secondary interview to the best of your knowledge?"

"I do not know," Matlock testified. "I was no longer involved in this case after this interview."

"Can you agree that if you were the detective handling this case from beginning to end that if you developed all this additional information, you would want to re-interview Phil Flores if he was willing to speak to you?" Bonjean inquired.

"If the information was developed that you say is developed, I would definitely go back and re-interview Mr. Flores," Matlock agreed.

"For instance, if you had learned that there was blood splatter on his sweatshirt despite the fact that he said he wasn't in the bedroom when she shot herself, wouldn't that be something that you would want to discuss with him on the re-interview?"

"I would," Matlock testified.

"What about finding out that he had GSR on his hands and shirt, hand and shirt, and she did not have GSR?"

"I would definitely want to talk to him about that," Matlock responded.

"What about if you learned information that he had broken into her apartment before when she wasn't there? Would that be a bit of information that would be troubling perhaps?"

"I would definitely want to re-interview him," Matlock answered.

"If you developed information that he had shown a pattern of stalking or a pattern of possessive behavior that included looking into her devices all the time, that type of stuff, would you agree that you'd want to talk to him about that?"

"If I would have known, I would have re-interviewed him," Matlock agreed.

"What about if the toxicology report didn't actually show that she had all that Xanax in her ... is that another bit of information that would trigger you to want to speak to him again?"

"Absolutely. Yes," Matlock remarked.

"Did he ever tell you that he monitored her electronic devices?"

"No, I don't recall he said that."

Matlock Agrees A Second Flores Interview Was Justified

Matlock testified the purpose of his Flores interview was "to lock him into his statement so that we at least have a statement from this guy."

"Fair enough," Bonjean told him. "In your mind, though, if the additional facts were developed, at least as I have presented them to you, it justified another interview with Mr. Flores; right?"

"I would say yes," Matlock answered. "The second interview, if I was doing it, it would have been an interrogation. It wouldn't have been an interview anymore."

By late August 2018, the Illinois State Police Crime Lab issued several reports finding gunshot residue on Flores' hand and his sweatshirt and none on Harer's hands.

"Certainly, if this was your investigation when these lab reports came back, you would have gone back and re-questioned him; correct?" Bonjean asked Matlock.

"Yes, I would have," Matlock agreed.

Instead, Channahon police working with the Will-Grundy task force, opted not to re-interview Flores after the gunshot residue tests were known.

On Dec. 28, 2018, nearly four months later, Channahon's deputy police chief Adam Bogart issued a press release stating: "The investigation has now been completed and presented to the Will County Coroner and the State’s Attorney’s Office. The Will County Coroner has determined that Samantha’s cause of death was by a self-inflicted gunshot wound. That finding is consistent with, and supported by, the evidence presented by this multi-jurisdictional investigation."

Matlock Taken Off Samantha Harer Case After Flores Interview

"Again, you'll take my word for it, but Samantha Harer was negative for gunshot residue on her hand," Bonjean told Matlock at last year's deposition. "Is that information that you would consider useful in conjunction with what we know about Flores's gunshot residue tests?"

"Yes."

"And you were not assigned to interrogate him later on?"

"No, I was not," Matlock testified.

"And again, you know that he was very adamant that he was not present in the room when she shot herself; right?"

"Correct," Matlock replied.

"He said he did touch her at some point later on after he entered into the room, but he even upon questioning by you and Detective Austin multiple times said, I was not in there when the gun went off; right?"

"Correct."

"Would you agree that the blood spatter and gunshot residue on your right cuff and your left cuff is not entirely consistent with the story he was telling you all?"

"It's not consistent that he wasn't in the room when you have gunshot residue on you," Matlock responded.

"Again, did Phil Flores tell you anything in your interview with him that would explain this type of blood spatter on the front of a sweatshirt?"

"No, he did not," Matlock testified.

"After your interview with Phil Flores, you said you had no contact with the case again; is that right?"

"That is correct," Matlock replied.

"Do you know why Phil Flores was never re-interviewed?"

"I cannot answer that question," Matlock replied.

In 2018, the Will-Grundy Major Crimes Task Force was led by Current Romeoville Police Chief Ken Kroll and Channahon was led by Chief Shane Casey and deputy chief Adam Bogart.

"Do you know who made the decision for him not to be re-interviewed?"

"I have no clue. I cannot answer that question," Matlock said.

"Okay. Detective, thank you for your time. That's all I have."

Related Samantha Harer Coverage By Patch:

Harer Family Lawyer: 'This Lawsuit Was Never About Money For Them'

Phil Flores Shot, Killed Samantha Harer In Jealous Rage: New Lawsuit

Samantha Harer: Here's Why Flores Wasn't Re-Interviewed

Samantha Harer's Gun Also Contains Phil Flores' DNA: Lawyer

911 Dispatcher's Death: Gunshot Residue Tests Revealed

Listen: 911 Call From Samantha Harer Gunshot Death