No New Trial for Convicted Wife Killer Allan Kustok

A Cook County judge shot down convicted wife killer Allan Kustok’s motion for a new trial, stating that he didn’t think the reasons presented by his defense attorneys would result in an outcome different from the guilty verdict rendered by a jury in March.

Associate Judge John Hynes heard oral arguments Thursday afternoon in Bridgeview. Kustok, 63, was convicted of shooting his 58-year-old wife, Anita “Jeanie” Kustok, in their Orland Park home in September 2010.

A crew-cutted Kustok, attired in an orange jail uniform and leg irons, watched as his attorneys tried to convince Judge Hynes that “new” evidence had emerged that refute the analysis presented by the prosecution’s expert crime scene reconstruction expert, Rod Englert, during the trial.

Kustok’s attorneys brought back Matthew Noedel, a firearms expert and crime scene re-constructionist from Seattle, WA. Noedel testified Thursday that a photo of a triangular-shaped smudge found on Jeanie Kustok’s pillow could possibly have been the result of lead residue when the gun was fired.

A simple, five-minute chemical swab could have determined if the smudge was lead residue from a firearm, Noedel told the judge, indicating that Jeanie Kustok could have shot herself as her husband insisted to police. Noedel also admitted that much of Thursday’s testimony was based on photographic evidence and reports, and not physical examination of the actual pillow case.

“We should be scientifically driven,” Noedel said. “When that step is neglected we get into a situation where the reconstruction is flawed.”

Asked by prosecutor James Papa if Noedel was assuming the pillow was near the firearm where Jeanie Kustok was killed, Noedel said that the state’s expert “could have guessed where the pillow goes” when reconstructing the bedroom crime scene.

Defense attorney Rick Beuke also argued that testimony about Kustok’s extramarital affairs should never have been admitted because it didn’t establish motive for him to shoot his wife of 34 years in the face.

The jury was also denied the opportunity to see a video of Kustok’s interrogation by Orland Park police in September 2010. The Kustoks’ son, Zak, further prejudiced the case because of a mid-trial “press conference” in which he stated he didn’t support his father.

Such rulings, Beuke said, might have led jurors to a different verdict.

Judge Hynes said that the defense’s expert witnesses -- including Noedel -- had plenty of time before the trial began to examine physical evidence. Testing of Jeanie Kustok’s pillow case could have been done in April 2012, instead of requesting it mid-trial.

“Had I allowed the [chemical] test neither side would have had ample time to respond,” the judge said. “No case law was presented to me by either side that couldn’t be put into perspective post-trial.”

Testimony about Kustok’s affairs also showed the defendant’s state of mind. Kustok’s actions the morning of his wife’s shooting were not the behavior of an “innocent, reasonable person,” the judge said

“There was gunpowder residue on the defendant’s hand, not Jeanie’s,” Hynes added. “For these reasons the defendant’s motion for a new trial is denied.”

Jeanie Kustok’s brother, John Runko, hugged family members at the conclusion of Thursday’s hearing. He declined making a comment.

Sentencing for Kustok is set for Dec. 10, where victim impact statements are expected to be read into the court record.

Read Patch’s complete coverage of the Allan Kustok trial.