Suicide and note add complications, intriguing twists to UMC probe

The plot thickens. But is the case now more difficult to prove?

The apparent suicide of Orlando Jones has complicated Metro's criminal investigation against the Chicago political mechanic's friend, ousted University Medical Center CEO Lacy Thomas.

The body of Jones, 52, was found Wednesday near Gowdy Shores Beach in Union Pier, Mich., on the edge of Lake Michigan. Las Vegas police had identified Jones as a person of interest in its investigation of Thomas, whose three-year tenure as head of the county hospital ended after he was suspected of passing out lucrative, no-bid contracts to his friends and political allies in Chicago, where he'd previously run the Cook County Hospital. The cops recommended Jones be charged with a crime.

Jones' death by a self-inflicted gunshot wound would have been intriguing enough. But he left a suicide note at his Chicago home before traveling to Union Pier, where the Chicago Tribune reports he owned a vacation home site.

In the note, which has not been made public and is being reviewed by police in Chicago and Las Vegas, Jones mentioned his friendship with Thomas and wife Henrene, informed sources confirmed Friday. The Chicago Tribune reported Friday the note "outlined how Jones wanted his affairs to be handled after his death."

In Chicago, Jones' attorney and friend of 10 years, Robert Stephenson, said his client didn't appear distraught just a day before his death.

"If I had had any indication that he was (suicidal), I would have tried to intervene," Stephenson said.

On the contrary, Jones appeared confident and prepared to vigorously defend himself against police suspicions that he'd made a big score with help from his friend, Thomas. Jones and Thomas had been friends since the days they worked for the Cook County Hospital.

In fact, Stephenson said, Jones had spent many hours recently collecting paperwork he believed would counter police suspicions that Crystal Communications, a company associated with Jones and Martello Pollock, received $82,000 from UMC in consulting fees ostensibly for doing nothing. Instead, Jones believed the paper trail would clear himself and the company.

Stephenson ripped into local law enforcement for what he called a failure to diligently investigate Jones' supposed connection to UMC.

"The police officers, in their investigation, did not obtain much of the relevant documentation that would have refuted their accusations, and they didn't even bother to interview Mr. Jones," said Stephenson, who added that he'd not reviewed the suicide note.

Metro Deputy Chief Kathy Suey said detectives traveled to Chicago approximately two months ago to interview Jones, but he declined.

"All we can do is try," Suey said.

Crystal Communications won a $24,000 consulting deal with UMC and was in line for a $150,000 communications contract with the hospital before Clark County Finance Director George Stevens called for an audit. It was about that time that Family Guidance Centers, a company Jones had served as a lobbyist, deposited $14,000 in a bank account connected to Henrene Thomas.

Stephenson countered that documentation proves Henrene Thomas did the work for which she was hired.

The lawyer said Jones was involved in only one contract associated with UMC. It lasted from April 2005 to May 28, 2005, and was for just $5,100. Jones received no money for his role in securing the contract, and instead the funds were passed to a subcontractor, Stephenson said. "He did not get any money at all."

Jones' attorney insists his client and friend wasn't greatly concerned about Metro's investigation.

"We gathered much of the written record the police officers never bothered to get," Stephenson chided. "He was not afraid of the Las Vegas investigation. Indeed, he helped me put together the documentation. We believe the district attorney would have made the decision" to clear Jones.

But Jones' name had also come up in an ongoing Chicago-based federal political corruption investigation at the time of his death. (Isn't there always an ongoing corruption probe in Chicago?)

Early last week, Stephenson said he made an overture to Clark County District Attorney David Roger representing his client as a man who could prove his innocence even before a charge was filed.

A short time later, in a plot twist worthy of John Grisham, Orlando Jones shot himself in the head and died alone near the beach he loved.

John L. Smith's column appears Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. E-mail him at Smith@reviewjournal.com or call 383-0295.