Will Murder Victim Danny Rios' Body Be Exhumed From Grave?

JOLIET, IL — After firing well-known Joliet criminal defense lawyer Chuck Bretz this summer, Joliet first-degree murder defendant Patrick Gleason — now acting as his own lawyer — wants Will County Judge Dan Rippy to send heavy construction equipment to Woodlawn Cemetery to exhume the body of Izzy's bartender Danny Rios.

"The Defendant request for the body of Daniel Rios 3rd to be exhumed from Woodlawn Cemetery," Gleason typed on one of the computers made available to inmates at the Will County Jail in late November. "Defendant needs the Medical Examination and analysis (sic) the DNA of the victim due to the negligence of the state using unorthodox means to procure a sample from the victim, violating defendant's rights.

"Defendant needs to show the courts just cause for his request in order to prove his innocence," Gleason wrote, referring to himself in third person.

According to Joliet police, back in March 2018, Gleason entered Izzy's Bar on Theodore Street, wearing a mask over his head, and shot Rios in the back of the head, killing him instantly, as several patrons were inside Izzy's bar. The bar owner's son, Thomas Izquierdo, was also shot in the stomach, and recovered from his life-threatening injuries.

The customers in the bar pinned Gleason to the ground and held him down until the Joliet police officers arrived on the scene.

Joliet Patch has previously reported that the shooting of Rios was captured on the bar's video security system, and lawyers have told Patch there is no question that Gleason was the shooter.

Now, after almost five years of living inside the Will County Jail, the 60-year-old Gleason is focused on his defense strategy, after finally parting ways with Bretz after the lawyer and client had a stormy relationship over the course of several years.

Gleason's family put up the money to hire Bretz for $40,000 in April 2018.

"The state has made false allegations against defendant by using the Will County Corner (sic) office using fraudulent means to justify using a victim for the means of convicting Defendant under false pretenses," Gleason wrote. "Defendant request all results be sent to him at the Will County Adult Detention Facility."

In closing, Gleason asked that "this Honorable courts grants him the ability and rights to exhume and examine the victim remains using a medical examiner of his choice and will pay all expenses required."

Then, using his jail-issued pencil, Gleason wrote: "Need body examined by Grundy County Coroner Only! For true cause of death. It's got to be exactly this way Judge Rippy."

Gleason's next pretrial hearing before Judge Rippy is set for 9:30 a.m. on Dec. 12.

Related Joliet Patch coverage:

Danny Rios' Killing: Joliet Murder Defendant Won't Have A Lawyer