Crime & Safety

Gun Expert in Allan Kustok Murder Trial Takes Aim at Prosecutors' Case

A firearms expert called to the witness stand by Allan Kustok's defense team took some shots at the prosecution's case.

A crime scene reconstructionist spent three days on the witness stand laying out how Allan Kustok supposedly shot his wife in the face as she lay in bed, and the Orland Park man's attorneys countered by calling two experts of their own with diametrically opposed opinions of how that bloody morning went down.

Matthew Noedel, an expert in fiream-shooting scene reconstruction, followed blood-spatter pattern expert Paul Kish to the witness stand Friday.

Both Noedel and Kish testified for prosecutors at the 2012 Christopher Vaughn murder trial in Joliet.

Kish, who started his testimony Thursday, said the blood spots found on Kustok's Arena Football T-shirt had not gushed from a gunshot wound, as prosecution witness Rod Englert maintained.

Noedel said Friday it was possible that Kustok's wife, Jeanie Kustok, may have shot herself in the face. Englert, a crime scene reconstructionist, said the recreation he pieced together with the help of information relayed by detectives precluded that scenario.

Allan Kustok, 63, allegedly killed his wife in September 2010 but claims he woke to a gunshot and found her dead in bed next to him with a .357 Magnum on her body. Allan Kustok claimed to have bought the revolver for his wife as an anniversary present but none of a series of friends and family called to testify knew anything about Jeanie Kustok owning a gun.

After learning his wife was dead, Allan Kustok emptied the five bullets left in the six-shooter into an armoire, then held Jeanie Kustok's body for more than 45 minutes before wrapping her in bedding and driving her to Palos Community Hospital.

Allan Kustok was arrested soon after telling police this story.

Both defense experts were asked about their work on the Vaughn case. At that trial, Kish was called by prosecutors and told the jury Vaughn's wife, Kimberly Vaughn, must have been killed before Christopher Vaughn bled on her.

Christopher Vaughn had claimed his wife shot him in the leg and then gunned down their three children before taking her own life.

Kish was so adamant in his assessment of the blood evidence that he prompted defense attorney George Lenard to demand a mistrial.

Noedel took the witness stand at the Vaughn trial the day before Kish. He said Vaughn's account of the shooting would have put his bullet wounds on the other side of his body and that they were inflicted by a gun barrel held flush against his skin.

Vaughn was found guilty of killing his family. He is serving a life sentence at Menard Correctional Center.

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