Miriam Illes – Murder at a Distance

In January 1999, Miriam Illes was shot through her kitchen window leaving her alone bleeding out on the kitchen floor.  Was this a random shooting or did someone want her dead?  Listen to the twisted tale of Miriam’s murder and decide for yourself.

Location

Williamsport is a small city located in Lycoming County in north-central Pennsylvania. It is approximately 85 miles north of the state capital of Harrisburg. It’s known for the birthplace of Little League Baseball and hosts the annual little league world series. Williamsport was also a stop along the Underground Railroad from 1830 to 1865. There were a series of safe houses in Lycoming County used to transport African American slaves from the south to the North and Canada.

Fatal Phone Call

On the evening of January 15, 1999, at 10:10 pm, 47-year-old  Miriam Illes was on the phone with her friend Mary Dixon from Clancey, Montana. The friends had been talking for 25 minutes when Mary heard a noise which sounded like breaking glass. Then she heard Miriam say “Oh, my God” followed by some loud moaning. Mary kept asking if Miriam was alright, but she received no reply.

Mary thought maybe someone like a third party had broken onto the phone line and that was the reason she could no longer communicate with her friend. So she hung up and immediately called Miriam back, but all she got was a busy signal. Mary then thought maybe the phone lines went down due to a snowstorm the Williamsport area was under. Mary once again called Mariam the next morning this time getting Mariam’s answering machine. She left a message for Mariam to call her back.

Worried Friends

On Sunday, January 17th Susan Van Fleet had become concerned when Mariam hadn’t shown up for church that day. Miriam was the director of Bible studies at her church and it was odd that Mariam hadn’t contacted her to let her know she wasn’t able to make it. Mariam was known as being very down-to-earth. She volunteered her time to community activities and was always found to be very reliable.

After church Susan and her husband, Dwayne, decided to go to Miriams’s address at 2440 Sheridan Street, to check on her. Upon their arrival, they noticed the local paper on her porch and mail in her mailbox. When they rang the doorbell Miriam’s dog started barking, but no one came to the door. Dwayne decided to go around the back of the house. When he neared the back kitchen window he was able to see Miriam lying on the kitchen floor. Dwayne immediately went back to his wife and told her what he saw feeling that Mariam was dead.

Susan called 911. When the ambulance EMTs arrived Dwayne took them back around the house and showed them the hole in the window.

Mystery Shooter

When Pennsylvania State Trooper William Holmes got to 2440 Sheridan Street he was greeted by Officer Bonnel from the Montoursville Police Department and the Loyalsock Township Fire Department. All the exterior doors to Miriam’s residence were locked when checked. The group only gained entry into the home by forcibly opening the rear door to the garage.

Miriam Illes was pronounced deceased. She was sprawled on the kitchen floor with a cordless phone lying between her head and shoulder. Trooper Holmes noticed glass lying on the counter near the window and a bullet hole in that window.

Investigators began a search of the home and surrounding area. Miriam’s property backed up to a wooded gully. Trooper Krikendall found tracks in the deep snow to the south of the residence along her property line. The tracks lead to a small tree, located about 73 feet,  facing the south end of Miriam’s home. Following the tracks lead up an embankment on the next-door neighbor’s property then back to the embankment behind Miriam’s home. They eventually went off to the wooded gully that held a fenced-in tennis court at the back.

Investigators determined that when you stand in Miriam’s kitchen and look out the kitchen window where the bullet had entered from the outside, you look right to the small 8-inch tree on the edge of the gully.

Right Handed Shooter

When Trooper Kirkendall stood by the small tree he noted one footprint measuring 13 inches. It was directly in line with the tree about a foot away and on the embankment itself. Trooper Kirkendall, who was a firearms instructor, felt that the shooter would have been right-handed. A person would typically extend their left foot to shoot with the right hand and vise versa if one would shoot with their left hand. He also noted that it was from this exact spot that you could look directly into Miriam’s kitchen window without the brush and shrubs that were dotted along the embankment.

Trooper Kirkendall felt that the footprints he found showed one person had traveled to the small tree and that one person left the same way traveling along the same tracks leaving the area by the tennis courts.

What the Body Tell Us

Dr. Samuel Land, a forensic pathologist, conducted Miriam’s autopsy on January 18, 1999. He concluded that Miriam died of a gunshot wound to the upper left back fracturing her left lateral ribs. When the bullet fragmented entering her body it caused a journey of destruction to the sack surrounding her heart, aorta, and upper lobe of her lung destroying multiple organs. Dr. Land opined that Miriam would have died within seconds to minutes once she had been shot. The gasping or wheezing sound that Mary Dixon had heard was most likely a death rattle.

A Death rattle is when someone is dying their heart or lungs begin to fill with fluids. When a person takes a breath the fluids mix with the air and make a gurgling sound. When they expel air and blood it comes out like a rattle-like or wheezing noise. Dr. Land felt that Mariam was able to make the “Oh my God” statement as she still had air in her lungs, but died shortly after.

Married Life

Mariam Illes had been married to Dr. Richard Illes, but they were currently going through a divorce and not an amicable one. Mariam and Richard had met in 1991 at the St. Louis University Medical Center. Dr. Illes was in residency in heart surgery. Mariam worked at the medical center as a perfusionist.

The perfusionist is a health care professional that works that cardiopulmonary bypass machine (heart-lung machine) during cardiac surgery which maintains that blood flow and regulates the oxygen and carbon dioxide in a patient’s blood.

The two dated for about a year before they married returning to York, Pennsylvania where Dr. Illes was from. Dr. Illes got a job at York Hospital as a cardiothoracic surgeon but didn’t stay long as he felt a competing group of surgeons didn’t want him around so he took a job with Susquehanna Health Systems in November 1994 in Williamsport.

That year Dr. Illes and Mariam had their only child. Richard Illes Jr. was known as Ritchie. He was five years old at the time of their divorce. Mariam had left her job as a perfusionist when Ritchie was two to devote herself to being a full-time mom.

Trouble in Paradise?

By 1998 Dr. Illes and Mariam’s marriage was in trouble. Both were seeking attorneys with Dr. Illes claiming that the couple had formally separated as of February 20th when Mariam had traveled to Atlanta, Georgia with Ritchie to visit family. Friends would report that Dr. Illes was a very controlling husband who tried to control Mariam and was very volatile towards her if things were not done to his expectations. Mariam also believed that her husband was having an affair with one of his assistants.

Around this time, Ritchie was four and Mariam was worried about custody and financial issues. The couple had a significant joint bank account. Mariam’s attorney directed Mariam to withdraw all of it. Mariam not feeling comfortable doing so took half, around $300,000. When Dr. Illes found out he came to the bank very angry and ended up closing out the joint account and opening one in only his name.

Getting Ugly

In retaliation, Dr. Illes filed for custody of Ritchie. In addition, he wanted to stay in the marital home with all its possessions. Mariam’s attorney filed a counter-petition on her behalf. Mariam decided to move out of the marital home to get away from Richard as he was refusing to leave. She did so in late March 1998 and rented the home on Sheridan Street.

In May 1998 both of the Illes attended a hearing concerning the child support and spousal support issues. Mariam had confided in friends she was afraid of what Richard would do if he had to pay her support. A temporary order was issued on May 22nd and required Dr. Illes to pay $1,150 a month for child support and $7,620 in spousal support per month and made it retroactive from March 27, 1998.

In July Dr. Illes claimed that Mariam was not entitled to spousal support since she voluntarily left their home to visit family. Mariam in return provided evidence that Dr. Illes was having an affair. Both filed exceptions to the order and on August 31st an order was entered that entitled Miriam to child support for $5,506 per month and spousal support for $7,840 per month. This was the largest award ever ordered in Lycoming County at that time.

At the beginning of October, Dr. Illes’s attorney contacted Mariam’s attorney indicating that Dr. Illes wanted to finalize their divorce and claimed that Mariam was only drawing it out to continue to receive support.

Things Come to a Head

This all seemed to come to a head-on on January 7, 1999, when a hearing was held on their various petitions. It was described as a “fairly heated day” and in the end, Dr. Illes would not leave a happy man. It would be one week from that hearing that Mariam Illes would be shot dead in her kitchen.

Four days later Dr. Illes’s attorney would contact the Lycoming County Domestic Relations Office asking to remove the wage attachment that had been on Dr. Illes’s paycheck, also, to terminate child and spousal support since Miriam was dead.

Discovery

On January 17th, Trooper Dean Benedict working in conjunction with the Montoursville forensic unit discovered a black object that looked like a silencer inside the area near the tennis court. He had been retracing the footprints as they moved away from the scene. He also noted that there were no footprints inside the tennis courts and felt that it had been thrown over the fence onto the court.

The silencer was sent off to the PA State Crime Lab and broken down to see what its components were. It was made of PVC pipe covered with spotted paint with absorbent filler material. That surrounded the inner portion of the silencer and wire with two end caps. The silencer had 73 holes in it and the purpose of those holes was to allow the propellant gases to escape. It tested positive for traces of lead. This shows that a lead projectile had gone through it.

Around 5 pm on January 17th state troopers interviewed Dr. Richard Illes at the Van Fleet residence. Dr. Illes stated that he and his five-year-old son, Ritchie, had returned to the area after visiting Honey Brook and Downingtown for the weekend. He had gone to Mariam’s house to return their son and that is when he found out about Mariam’s death. At first, Dr. Illes appeared visibly upset, but within five minutes his demeanor appeared to change to the detectives and he was very matter of fact in his responses.

State Trooper Holmes noted that when Dr. Illes was told of his wife’s murder he asked “was there any evidence found.”

The Doctor’s Alibi

Dr. Illes told the troopers that he had arrived at Mariam’s house around 5 pm that Friday to pick up Ritchie for the weekend. He had planned on going away for the weekend either to his cabin to snowmobile or to visit his sister, who lived in Honey Brook, or to his brother’s house in Downingtown. After leaving Mariam’s house he had gone to his office to finish up some paperwork then off to Burger King to pick up some dinner arriving home between 6:30 – 7 pm.

He then took Ritchie to his father’s house also in Downingtown leaving around 9:30 pm. Road conditions were slick due to ice with the pair stopping at the McDonald’s in Lewisburg when Ritchie said he was hungry.

Later investigation would show that there was no precipitation in the Williamsport area from Friday evening and none leading into the 16th. This was also true of the Selinsgrove and Harrisburg areas. The snowstorm that had hit the state ended the morning of January 15th between 10:15 am to 11:30 am. Records would show that the storm had a more difficult clean-up due to the freezing rain and sleet that had fallen earlier.

Since the road conditions were deteriorating Dr. Illes decided to stay in a hotel for the night somewhere south of Selinsgrove. He called his sister, Sue on his cell phone, and informed her of his plans around 11:30 pm.

Dr. Illes Couldn’t Find a Suitable Hotel

Dr. Illes told the investigators that he could not find a suitable hotel until he reached the Harrisburg area arriving at the Hampton Inn on Route 283 arriving around 1 am. On Saturday Dr. Illes and Ritchie stayed at his sister’s house and on Sunday morning he went to his father’s house in Downingtown arriving back in Williamsport around 4 pm and then to Mariam’s arriving at 4:50 pm.

The troopers wanted to speak to Ritchie, but Dr. Illes wanted a child psychologist to be present when they did so there were not able to question him that night.

Police Investigation Continues

Another interview with Dr. Illes took place on February 10, 1999, this time at Dr. Illes attorney’s office. This interview was focused on more details about his trip out of town on Friday including the reason he didn’t stop at any of the hotels in Shamokin Dam. Dr. Illes told investigators that he did stop at the Sheridan Inn around 12:20 am – 12:30 am, but there had been a busload of people arriving at the same time so he decided to go to the nearby Hampton Inn.

Dr. Illes also told investigators that he did own several guns that included shotguns and rifles with a variety of ammunition and that he made wooden stocks for some of his guns.

All About the Benjamins

Investigators found out that the Illes’s divorce was a nasty one. They looked into any life insurance monies that Dr. Illes had on Mariam. The New York Life Insurance Company told investigators that Dr. Illes had a $250,000 policy on Mariam since 1994 and he was the sole beneficiary. Dr. Illes also had a $750,000 policy that Mariam was the initial beneficiary of, but that changed on July 6, 1998, when Dr. Illes changed it to his son and then-girlfriend.

Since Dr. Illes was a member of the plan he could change his beneficiaries, but Mariam could not. Dr. Illes could have also stopped the premium payments on Mariam’s policy when they separated, but he did not instead continue to pay them with his last payment in December 1998. Mariam’s policy was in good standing at the time of her murder.

Dr. Illes attempted to claim the policy in February, but the insurance company did not pay as Mariam’s murder was under investigation.

Trash Day

Investigators discovered that Dr. Illes had contacted his trash removal company on Monday, January 18th just days after Mariam’s murder. His normal trash pick-up day was on Tuesday, but Dr. Illes claimed that his trash hadn’t been picked up in weeks. The PA State Police contacted the trash hauler wanting to have a look at Dr. Illes’s trash even though they missed the day Dr. Illes called for. They did, however, get to look at his trash from the February 2nd pickup. Investigators discovered two open tubs of super glue and a 2 ¼ inch piece of wire.

Looking at Dr. Illes trash from February 24th investigators found a rifle barrel that had six drill bit impressions on it.

Warrants Are Served

Investigators also served warrants on Dr. Illes’s residences on February 23, 1999, which included his cabin in Potter County, his new residence at Mt. Crescent, and the previous marital home on Lamont Drive. At his Lamont Drive residence, investigators found debris on his workshop floor that appeared to be scrapes of expandable foam and PVC piping in a basement storage room. At his new residence investigators seized a Ruger 22 250 rifle with a scope along with various tools and a .22 caliber semi-automatic Beretta handgun. The end barrel of the handgun had been cut off.

Investigators photographed a book they found on the nightstand in the master bedroom entitled, “They Wrote Their Own Sentences, The F.B.I. Handwriting Analysis Manual.” Investigators also found expanding foam insulation at Dr. Illes cabin.

Before the search warrant was issued, Dr. Illes contacted the state police to report that his current residence had been broken into. Things looked as if they had been moved, but he declined to ask the state police to come to his residence. After the warrants had been served Dr. Illes had a conversation with Dwyane Van Fleet telling him he was concerned about what the police would find as he felt that someone was setting him up.

Anonymous Letter

On March 1, 1999, Dr. Illes’s attorney’s office contacted the PA State Police informing them that they had received a letter written in pencil on plain white paper. The postmark on the envelope was February 27, 1999, from the Williamsport Post Office. This was four days after the search warrant was served and investigators photographed the handwriting analysis book. The letter had block printing with the anonymous writer stating:

I SHOT MIRIAM

It claimed that the Lord ordered the writer to:

HARVEST THE WICKED RACIST ONES OF THIS TOWN

And that the writer made it look like Dr. Illes had murdered Miriam. The letter was signed:

SOLDIER OF EQUALITY, SOLDIER OF GOD, SOLDIER OF DEATH

The letter appeared to investigators to have been wiped down with something leaving streaks on the page. Investigators also found a hair attached to the letter; no fingerprints were found when processed and investigators felt that might have been the purpose of wiping down the letter as it will remove any prints left on the paper.

Second Anonymous Letter

On May 4, 1999, Dr. Illes attorney received another anonymous letter postmarked May 3rd. Whereas the first letter was a single sheet of paper with writing on both sides this time the letter was two separate pages; both had been addressed to Dr. Illes attorney and both were written with a pencil with block lettering. This letter stated:

DR. ILLES COULD NOT HAVE BEEN THE KILLER OF HIS EVIL WIFE

Claiming that the writer had

SUPERIOR INTELLECT

and had fooled the investigators.

The writer boasted that he had advanced degrees and was fluent in several languages and his IQ was higher than any police officers. The writer went on to claim he was sorry for ruining Dr. Illes’ life.  Not stopping there he wrote about the wire that was mentioned in the local newspaper when Dr. Illes’ trash was searched which had matched the materials in the silencer.

I HAD FREE ACCESS TO HIS HOME WHILE HE WAS ON VACATIONS, AND USED MANY OF HIS SUPPLIES TO FABRICATE MY EQUIPMENT

In closing, he writes that this would be his last letter since he was moving out of the area and signed it:

SOLDIER OF GOD

SOLDIER OF EQUALITY

SOLDIER OF DEATH

In the second letter, the author talks a bit more about himself with the description resembling Dr. Illes medical partner, Dr. Nche Zama, who was ruled out with having anything to do with the murder and had an iron-clad alibi for the time. Again no fingerprints were found on the letter.

Did A Book Serve As The Letter Blueprint?

Remembering the photographs of the book on the nightstand investigators obtained a copy and noted some of the suggestions in the book seemed to coincide with the anonymous letters. Letters printed in pencil are not susceptible to chemical testing and that hand-printed letters are difficult to compare to other writing samples. The book also gave case scenarios that had similarities to Miriam’s case.

Wife being murdered, husband a suspect, and an anonymous letter written implicating someone else.

Weapon Found

On June 4, 1999, a fisherman looking for minnows in a creek in the south Williamsport area off Route 15 and Sulfur Spring Road found a small loaded rifle lying along the creek bed. Route 15 was the same road that Dr. Illes had traveled the night of Mariam’s murder. The man removed the clip and immediately took it to the police. Then he showed them exactly where he had found the rifle about 15 to 20 feet off the road on the bank of the stream.

The rifle itself was a rare savage 23D which was last sold in 1949. The clip for the rifle was a .22 Hornet, which is an unusual caliber and the barrel of the gun had been sawed off. Since the location of the weapon was in state police territory the gun was transported to the barracks and entered into evidence.

During Miram Illes’ autopsy bullet fragments, a lead bullet core, and a bullet jacket were recovered and showed four lands and grooves with a right twist. Meaning the bullet that was fired from the murder weapon had four lands and groves and the bullet itself was a .22 centerfire caliber class which is consistent with a .22 Hornet.

Gun Examined

When investigators became aware of the rifle’s discovery that had the gun examined to see if it was connected to Mariam’s murder. They determined that the caliber of the bullet was the same and the bullet removed from Mariam and the bullet in the clip were of the same type of lead and consistent with having been manufactured together. The rifle when found had been purposely altered with the barrel having been ground down and had numerous drill impressions throughout it and the serial number had been obliterated. The gunstock also looked to have grind marks on it.

However, the silencer that was recovered could easily fit onto the barrel. A screw that comes down to lock the silencer in place perfectly matched meaning that this rifle could have been the murder weapon. Investigators test-fired the weapon using a replica silencer setting up a scenario where a silhouette target 75 feet from where the weapon was to be fired. Each time the trooper was able to hit the target in the same area Mariam was shot.

Closing In

On January 4, 2000, PA State Troopers interviewed the sister of Joseph Kowalski who Dr. Illes had a close relationship with as he referred to him as Uncle Joe. Although it would come out later that Dr. Illes had confided to Dwayne Van Fleet that Uncle Joe was his father. It was also mentioned in various articles that Uncle Joe may have been his godfather.

Uncle Joe was a gunsmith in the military and worked with guns all his life, but sadly Uncle Joe died during the summer of 1998 having given most of his guns to his sister. After the interview, troopers were given a list of guns Uncle Joe had owned and a photograph showing Uncle Joe hold a rifle in one hand and a groundhog in the other.

The gun in the photo, a Savage model 23 D rifle, looked to be the same model as the gun found off Sulphur Springs Road, near Route 15. When comparing the list to the guns recovered in the search of Dr. Illes home the Savage model 23D rifled was not among them.

Dr. Illes Is Arrested

In December 2002, an arrest warrant was obtained for Dr. Illes who was now residing in the state of Washington in Spokane. Dr. Illes was working as a plastic surgeon as he couldn’t find a job as a cardiothoracic surgeon as someone was sending press clippings to prospective employers about his wife’s murder investigation. After his arrest, a search warrant was obtained for his new residence where Dr. Illes’ computer was taken into evidence.

During the search of the computer, technicians found an unfinished manuscript entitled, “Heart Shot, Murder of a Doctor’s Wife” with the author listed as Richard W. Illes. The manuscript talked about potential suspects in Mariam’s murder, as well as what the killer’s thought process was waiting outside of Mariam’s house on several occasions. Waiting for the right shot, and that came on the 7th visit.

Other occasions didn’t pan out like one where Mariam’s dogs had started barking just as the killer was about to take aim. The manuscript also noted that the killer had taken measures to throw off the police and even described the shooting of Mariam by the “killer.” Dr. Illes writes in the manuscript that the killer had steadied the rifle on the tree limb while Miriam was talking on the phone before shooting her. He then took 10 minutes to escape the area with his car being parked down the street congratulating himself and feeling orgasmic catharsis for another mission well done.

The manuscript itself was only two chapters long.

• Chapter One: The Shot No One Heard
• Chapter Two: The Road to Williamsport

If The Shoe Fits

On March 24, 2003, state troopers again searched the area off of Sulfur Springs Road where the rifle had been found and that is when they found a pair of Reebok size 14 sneakers. The sneakers were found about 2/10 of a mile from where the rifle was found. The sole pattern of the sneakers was similar to the tracks found in the snow at the scene of Miriam’s murder. The soles measured 13 inches the same length found at the crime scene.

Dr. Illes wore a 9 1/2 to 10 size shoe.

Lots of Hairs

During the investigation, various hairs had been found on pieces of evidence. A hair had been found stuck to the glue of the 2nd anonymous letter. Hairs were found on the silencer.

Also, a cigarette found at the crime scene, not with a hair attached, but having DNA didn’t match any of the other DNA extracted from the various hairs. The investigators had five pieces of DNA none of them matching each other and none of them matching Dr. Illes leaving them to conclude that someone was planting evidence.

Justice Due

Five years after Mariam’s murder Dr. Richard Illes stood trial for 1st-degree murder. Prosecutors laid out their case of what happened the night of Mariam’s murder. After Dr. Illes picked up Ritchie and before returning to Mariam’s house he had given him a drink laced with drugs that rendered him unconscious. He then parked his vehicle behind the wooded gully and tennis courts and made his way to the embankment behind her house. Prosecutors and investigators believe that Dr. Illes one fatal mistake is that he didn’t see that Mariam was on the phone pinpointing her exact time of death.

After shooting her Dr. Illes dropped a cigarette at the scene that contained someone else’s DNA. He then twisted off the silencer and put three hairs inside of it, none of them matching, and threw the silencer into the snow-covered tennis courts.

His motive was the bitter custody battle over Ritchie and not wanting to pay Mariam any support that was to be around $13,000 per month.

The Other Woman

At trial, the state called Katherine Fostick as a witness, and asked about her connection to Dr. Illes. Katherine had met Dr. Illes in 1992 when she was training to become a perfusionist and in 1995 Miriam contacted her about a job at Williamsport Hospital. In February 1998 Dr. Illes told Katherine that he and Mariam were separated and in March of that year, the two began a romantic relationship and moved in together in May or June of 1998.

After Miriam’s murder, Dr. Illes had told her that he felt someone had a vendetta against him and that his life was in danger. Katherine asked that Dr. Illes turn on the alarm and security system in their home as she was afraid. Dr. Illes refused saying that they were moving soon and he would turn one on in their new home. Dr. Illes also expressed that he was afraid he would be arrested for his wife’s murder even though the anonymous letters exonerated him.

How To Hide Your Assets And Disappear

In June 1999 both Katherine and Dr. Illes traveled to Harrisburg, PA to meet with Attorney William Costopoulos where Costopoulos handed Dr. Illes a paper that contained a list of countries with extradition treaties with the US. It was also around this time Dr. Illes obtained a passport for his son Ritchie and purchased a book titled, “How to Hide Your Assets and Disappear.”

In July 1999, Dr. Illes and Katherine had a discussion where Dr. Illes admitted to her that he had drugged Ritchie after they had returned to the area the night of Mariam’s murder as he was inconsolable.

On July 31, 1999, the couple married, but the marriage only lasted two years before them divorcing. Katherine testified that near the end of their marriage Dr. Illes would refer to her as a greedy bitch, just like he had done with Mariam when he was angry at her.

Dr. Illes did not take the stand in his defense.

Jury’s Verdict

After Dr. Illes’ five-week trial, the jury deliberated for 2 ½ days coming back with a verdict of guilty of the first-degree murder on February 20, 2004. Dr. Illes was sentenced to a life sentence without the possibility of parole. The jury initially reported that they were hopelessly deadlocked, but the judge ordered them to continue deliberations before they finally reached a verdict. One juror who was one of the last holdouts was not sure that the rifle could be linked to Dr. Illes. After the jury re-read the transcript of the testimony of how Dr. Illes inherited the rifle the summer before Mariam’s murder she became convinced.

In the state of PA, jurors in jury trials that last longer than two days are allowed to take notes at the discretion of the courts. If notes are allowed note pads and writing utensils are handed out to the jurors. They do not have to take notes and their notes are considered confidential. Note pads are collected every night and returned the next morning; they are not to be shared with other jurors until deliberations begin. Taking notes is of course optional and jurors do not have to take them.

A week after his conviction Dr. Illes attempted suicide by cutting into his wrist with a paperclip in the Lycoming County Prison.

Where is Dr. Illes Today?

Today, Dr. Illes is housed in a state correctional institution in Erie and he seems to have spent his time behind bars filing lawsuits against various prison officials.

One such lawsuit was what Dr. Illes felt was a violation of his privacy when he was housed at SCI Camp Hill in August 2010. Dr. Illes felt the prison psychiatrist violated his rights when he had talked to him at the door of his cell instead of a private location. Prison safety issues did not allow the removal of prisoners to private locations which Dr. Illes knew and agreed to, but then turned around to sue. The case was found moot by a civil court.

Resources

• Commonwealth v. Illes
• Convicted heart surgeon sniper’s claim that he was underfed in prison denied
• A PROMINENT HEART SURGEON’S WIFE IS MURDERED, BUT WHO WANTED HER DEAD? A “48 HOURS MYSTERY,” SATURDAY, JAN. 8
• Man attempts suicide after being convicted in wife’s death
• Doctor Sentenced in Estranged Wife’s Death
• A Shot In The Dark
• Williamsport, Pennsylvania – Wikipedia
• Perfusionist
• Almost the Perfect Murder – Crime Writers’ Case Study
• Surgeon killed estranged wife, jury now concludes
• Appeal of murder conviction rejected | News | dailyitem.com
• Dr. Illes Murder Trial Visuals
• The Doctor who murdered his wife Dr Richard Illes
• Rule 644 – Note Taking by Jurors, 234 Pa. Code § 644

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