COP SHOT

Despite only having about 50 members, the Maywood Police Department also has a history of frequent misconduct and corruption. In 1997, the entire Maywood Police Department was temporarily disbanded because of claims that officers were selling badges and robbing locals. Despite the temporary disbandment, the restructured Maywood PD was unable to stay out of trouble.

In 2005, then-Officer Arian Wade was caught on tape tipping off a Gangster Disciples leader about an upcoming raid. In 2007, then-Officer Dwayne Wheeler shot and killed an unarmed motorist, claiming that the man was trying to run him down while escaping from a bust. The motorist’s family claimed that Wheeler killed him in cold blood.

In 2010, during an FBI sting, then-Officer Robert Welch was caught stealing money from suspects. Also in 2010, Maywood’s then-deputy police chief, Brian Black, was involved in an off-duty incident in which he allegedly pistol-whipped a teenager who rebuffed his “advances”. From 2005 to 2010, two dozen lawsuits related to Maywood PD misconduct were settled for $1.5 million, collectively. Maywood is still encountering corruption and mismanagement in 2022. Including federal investigations, police involved shootings, and the arrest of their current mayor.

WHEELER

THOMAS WOOD

Thomas Wood joined the Maywood PD in 1997 ironically during the same year as the disbandment. According to his wife, Helene, he became a police officer because he wanted to “change the world”. She also said that Wood “got to know drug dealers, gang members and troubled youths while working on the streets”, but “he would try and help them get their life straight instead of putting them in jail”. Wood had previous experience as a reserve officer with the Schiller Park Police Department from 1992 to 1996 and served as a part-time officer with the Stone Park Police Department from 1995 to 1997.

Despite the conduct of his fellow officers, Thomas Wood was well known as someone who was strait-laced. He rarely drank, and people at the Stone Park PD thought that he was an FBI mole because of how good his conduct was. It was during his time with the Stone Park PD that he met his wife, Helene, a divorced mother of three that he had previously coached gymnastics with. One day, he spotted her speeding, pulled her over, and they ended up dating soon after that, marrying in 1998, adopting her three children and going on to have two children together.

MURDER

On October 23, 2006, at 10:49 PM, Maywood Police Officer

Thomas T. Wood responded to a dispatch about an unspecified problem around a storefront parking lot near South Fifth Ave and Madison St. Officer

Robert Welch also responded to the dispatch, but neither of

them saw anything out of the ordinary. Welch went back to the police station, while Wood kept driving along Fifth Ave. Despite the fact that his shift was essentially over, Wood went to the intersection of Sixth Ave and Erie Street, where he’d been dispatched on a drug traffic call

a few hours earlier. He pulled over near 319 North Sixth Ave, a house known for gang and drug activity. While there, he ran the license plate of a white Pontiac Grand Prix parked in front of the house and made two calls to Maywood police dispatch shortly after 11:00.

For reasons that are still not known, he also called a woman who was dating a known member of a gang in Maywood.

At approximately 11:15 PM, Thomas Wood was shot multiple times in the chest and head while sitting in his marked

police vehicle near the intersection of 6th Avenue and Erie Street. His canine partner, Daro, was found unharmed in the back of Wood’s car. Wood was transported to Loyola University Medical Center where he died from his wounds 45 minutes later.

THE INVESITAGTION

At approximately 11:15 PM, a man who lived nearby, Robert Novak, heard gunfire and went outside to see what happened. (An aside, Novak had been an officer for the Maywood PD until 1997, when he resigned because of unspecified complaints.) Novak went over to Officer Wood’s SUV, and immediately noticed several things. The tail lights were on, indicating that the vehicle was not in park (Wood’s food was still on the brake). Novak also said that he reached inside the vehicle and put it in park. The window was partially open, which combined with the state of the vehicle, indicated that Wood had most likely been talking to someone when he was shot, and over $600 was found on Wood, so robbery was immediately thrown out as a motive. Maywood police soon arrived at the scene. However, for some reason, Novak was allowed to remain at the scene, which was the first of several investigative missteps. A few hours after the incident, Novak was arrested and questioned. He had several run-ins with

Wood in the past, due to the fact that police had been called to Novak’s house eighty-one times since 1999, mainly because of domestic disputes and issues with his neighbors. He owned a .380 caliber pistol, but his gun didn’t match the murder weapon. Even if Novak was able to be ruled out as Wood’s murderer, letting a potential suspect wander the scene of a crime for a few hours with no supervision was a pretty big blunder.

However, it was only the beginning of the long line of mistakes that would be made in the investigation. People that Wood saw or called in the previous few days weren’t questioned. Evidence was damaged by flooding at the Maywood police station. One of the biggest mistakes was made when Elvia Williams, who had become Maywood’s police chief a few months earlier, asked for help from West Suburban Major Crimes Task Force (WESTAF), a collection of specialists from police departments in the western suburbs.

MAYWOOD VS. WESTAF

From the beginning, Maywood police officers and WESTAF butted heads, as members of Maywood’s PD saw WESTAF as a group of uninformed outsiders. Vice versa, WESTAF didn’t trust the Maywood police because of their long history of misconduct.

A major disagreement between the two sides eventually erupted. Maywood police had questioned a reputed member of the Latin Kings street gang

whose family lived close to the shooting scene and had once rented an apartment to Wood, and whom Wood had arrested on a gun charge in 2005. The man fingered as Wood’s killer, the alleged gang member whose girlfriend (now wife) Wood had called just before his death.

prosecutors—believed the snitch wasn’t credible, sources say.

The Maywood cops figured they may have cracked the case. But the WESTAF side—which included Cook County

WESTAF had its sights on another suspect: Terry Gilford, the driver of the Grand Prix that Wood had been looking up just before he was killed. Gilford was a felon and a known troublemaker in Maywood, according to police records and interviews. He had once tussled with Wood during a traffic stop, recalls Dwayne Wheeler, a former Maywood

police sergeant. But Gilford had an alibi, albeit an embarrassing one: At the time of the shooting, he says, “I just so happened to be cheating on my wife.” His mistress lived near the murder scene, which he says explains why the Grand Prix was there. Still, Gilford remained a “person of interest” for months. The intense focus on him angered some on the Maywood police force who believed that WESTAF had the wrong guy.

FBI TAKEOVER

Eight years after Tom Woods was murdered, the FBI officially took over his case. In 2015, they received a tip from a Bellwood Police Officer that led to a dead end. The latest update came in 2019 when they asked the public for more information.

According to Helene Wood, In 2022 a new Homicide detective transferred into The Maywood Police from Naperville and has been diligently working on his case in her spare time. However, nearly Sixteen years later Tom’s death remains unsolved.

TOM LOVED BEING A COP

Towards the end Tom became very distant and cold. He often shut down after the kids went to bed. Helene confronted him multiple times at first alleging infidelity, eventually during therapy it came out that Tom was facing an upward struggle at The PD.

TOM CONFIDED TO HELENE WOODS

He said he was witnessing police brutality, multiple misconduct incidents, illegal search and seizures, reselling of stolen narcotics, tampering with evidence but felt forced to stay so he could help the victims of the corrupt crimes.

TOM WAS PRESSURED & RIDICULED to the point he traveled home or to meet up with his family during his one hour breaks.

TOM WAS HARASSED AND THREATENED He was forced many times by his peers to change his reports. It got to the point where he would only stay on patrol and write his reports in his squad .

TOM FEARED HIS LIFE

He took out a new life insurance policy to ensure Helene and his kids would be okay.

THEORY ONE- BOBBY NOVAK

In the weeks leading up to Tom’s death he befriended a teacher at Proviso East where he worked security during the day. According to Tom, the teacher recognized him from being called to her house for a domestic and was in the process of leaving her abusive husband who just happened to be Bobby Novak. Coincidentally, Bobby Novak is the same person who found Tom Woods and called 911. Novak says that he found Wood’s bullet-riddled body slumped in the driver’s seat. The taillights indicated that the SUV was not in

park; Wood’s foot was still on the brake. Novak says he reached inside and shifted the vehicle into park to prevent it from rolling.

Novak quickly became a suspect. It turned out he had had previous run-ins with Wood that prompted him to complain to Wood’s bosses. And records show that the police were at Novak’s home 81 times since 1999, on calls ranging from disputes with neighbors to domestic troubles; Wood was among the officers who responded to these often-contentious calls.

Within hours of Wood’s killing, Novak was handcuffed, questioned extensively, and polygraphed. His house was searched, his skin tested was for gunshot residue, and his .380 handgun was checked to see if it was the murder weapon. The gun wasn’t a match. And while tests found gunshot residue on Novak’s body, there was a plausible explanation: He had reached into Wood’s SUV, which had residue everywhere.

THEORIES

BOBBY NOVAK

Bobby Novak found Tom Woods and called 911. Novak says that he found Wood’s bullet-riddled body slumped in the driver’s seat. The taillights indicated that the SUV was not in park; Wood’s foot was still on the brake. Novak says he reached inside and shifted the vehicle into park to prevent it from rolling.

Novak quickly became a suspect. It turned out he had had previous run-ins with Wood that prompted him to complain to Wood’s bosses. And records show that the police were at Novak’s home 81 times since 1999, on calls ranging from disputes with neighbors to domestic troubles; Wood was among the officers who responded to these often-contentious calls.

Within hours of Wood’s killing, Novak was handcuffed, questioned extensively, and polygraphed. His house was searched, his skin tested was for gunshot residue, and his .380 handgun was checked to see if it was the murder weapon. The gun wasn’t a match. And while tests found gunshot residue on Novak’s body, there was a plausible explanation: He had reached into Wood’s SUV, which had residue everywhere.

MISTAKEN IDENTITY OR SET UP

Tom was not scheduled to work on 10/23 however he was asked to cover for another officer who worked the same area and used the same squad car. Some believe the alleged officer was part of the latin kings and Tom’s murder was a case of mistaken identity while others believe it was part of a larger set up and conspiracy by the men Tom was set to testify against.

EVIDENCE LIES

All of Tom’s personal items were seized including his gun, jewelry, cell phone, briefcase, clothing, and wedding ring. Helene asked for his wedding ring and personal items back to have for her kids. For the first three years Helene was told that the items couldnt be released since they are part of the crime scene, 5 years later she was told they were given to the FBI and she could not have them. In 2017 she was told the items were damaged in the flood and destroyed but in 2020 with Maywood under new leadership she asked the new Chief of police for items and they were returned in after being found in the basement closet of the pd.

MISSING REWARD MONEY/JASON ERVIN

Over 100k of Tom’s reward money went missing with village manager Jason Ervin being in charge of it. Ervin is now the alderman of Chicago 28th Ward, Head of the Illinois Black Caucus, and serves on Chicago’s COPA Board. Ervin has been accused of fraud and the suspect of multiple federal investigations including.

ANONYMOUS LETTERS - THE FIRE

Helene has received various anonymous letters with information regarding Tom’s death and who is responsible.

The letters are often typed and placed inside her mailbox. Helene received a very disturbing letter in 2020 that stated that Tom was killed because he knew that a police officer shot and killed an innocent woman that he believed was a sex worker.

In order to cover up the murder, the involved officers set the house on fire. Helene’s life was threatened and was told if she ever told anyone about the info in the letter the author would know and she would have the same fate as Tom. Helene gave the letters to the fbi who never followed up with the info.