CHICAGO — One of two brothers from Lyons who told police they buried their mother and sister in the backyard of their home last year was released from custody during a court hearing Friday afternoon in Bridgeview, prosecutors said.
Michael Lelko, 45, was charged with two felony counts of concealment of a death, state’s attorney’s office spokeswoman Tandra Simonton said. Charges were still pending for his 42-year-old brother, Lyons police said in an email.
Earlier, officials said Michael Lelko was 47.
He appeared for a brief hearing Friday afternoon in the Bridgeview Courthouse before Cook County Judge Michael Kane, who ordered him released on his own recognizance after prosecutors confirmed there was no cause of death for the women yet.
“We don’t have any indication that they died at the hands of this man?” asked Judge Kane. “That is correct,” the prosecutor said.
Additionally, no charges have been filed for his brother, prosecutors said.
Lelko, whose wrists were handcuffed in front of him, was wearing a mask and sported tinted eyeglasses and a scruffy beard. He answered yes sir and no sir to Kane and told the judge that he and his brother live in a hotel and he receives public aid.
Prosecutors detailed the day the well-being check was performed and he and his brother were taken to hospital. Michael Lelko told authorities in the ambulance that he had buried his mother and sister and later showed them were they were buried.
Kane asked if there was a cause of death yet for either woman.
“Have they ruled anything out?” asked Kane. “Not that I’m aware of,” replied the prosecutor.
Kane also asked prosecutors if there was a preliminary autopsy report, and prosecutors said they did not know if that kind of report existed and asserted that the forensic investigation was ongoing.
According to Lelko’s lawyer, he is not a flight risk and turned himself in without a warrant.
Lelko has double bronchitis and “significant” medical issues that keep him from working, the attorney said.
Kane also ordered Lelko be given psychiatric assistance.
“I want you to talk to a doctor,’” Kane told Lelko after setting the bond.
Lelko is due back in court on May 5.
The brothers may also face federal charges, according to Lyons police Chief Thomas Herion.
“This has been a very unusual and difficult case because the bodies have been buried for so many years. The autopsy was only able to confirm the identities of the two individuals, the mother and the sister, but not any evidence for the cause of death,” Herion said in an email statement.
The brothers were first detained last year and told police their mother died in 2015 after being pushed down the stairs by their sister, authorities said. The sister died in 2019 due to the coronavirus, the brothers told police, though no COVID-19 deaths were reported in the U.S. until 2020.
The brothers said they had buried both of the women, authorities said. The brothers were initially held for two days, but were released without charges.
The two bodies found at the property were later identified as Jennifer Lelko, 44, and Jean Lelko, 79, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office Thursday. Both the cause and manner of deaths are undetermined.
In August 2021, police did a well-being check at the trilevel home on South Center Avenue in the southwest suburb after village workers noticed no water had been used there for a year, Herion said last year.
The house was found to be in foul condition with feces and bottles of urine, police said. The brothers had removed the gas meter because they didn’t want to pay for it, authorities said.
Heaps of trash and boxes could be seen through the windows, cluttering the inside of the house. Mounds of dirt were in the backyard, potentially covering the graves of the brothers’ relatives.
The brothers said during interviews with police that they buried both relatives in their backyard and had put the bodies in garbage barrels, Herion said last year. There was no record of their deaths.
Both brothers were evaluated mentally and physically, authorities said. At the time, there were no criminal charges because the remains had not yet been identified.
Herion said the investigation is focused on finding the causes of death. The home has been boarded up and evidence is being collected after the county approved a search warrant, Herion said.
Additionally, the village of Lyons is suing the brothers for more than $60,000 for the “cost of removal of debris from the property,” according to court records.
An initial complaint was filed Aug. 31, 2021, according to court records. In March, the village filed a notice of lien for the costs incurred, and on Tuesday the village filed a notice to foreclose the lien, meaning it plans to sell the property.
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