Jeanette Sliwinski (born 1982) is an American former model. She was found guilty of

reckless homicide Reckless homicide is a crime in which the perpetrator was aware that their act (or failure to act when there is a legal duty to act) creates significant risk of death or grievous bodily harm in the victim, but ignores the risk and continues to ac ...

for an incident on July 14, 2005 when she attempted suicide while driving, causing a crash that resulted in the deaths of three local musicians, John Glick, Douglas Meis, and

Michael Dahlquist Michael Dahlquist (December 22, 1965 – July 14, 2005) was an American musician, film editor, and computer programmer best known for being the drummer of the Seattle-based Indie rock band Silkworm. Early years Dahlquist was born in Seatt ...

. She served three years in prison.

Early life

Jeanette Sliwinski was born in 1982, a daughter of Polish immigrants. She attended

Niles West High School Niles West High School, officially Niles Township High School West or NWHS, is a public four-year high school located in Skokie, Illinois, a north suburb of Chicago in the United States. It is part of Niles Township Community High School Distric ...

. After graduating from high school she began taking on modeling jobs to help finance her

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

marketing Marketing is the process of exploring, creating, and delivering value to meet the needs of a target market in terms of goods and services; potentially including selection of a target audience; selection of certain attributes or themes to emph ...

. After high school she took a career as a local print model in which her pictures ended up in calendars and lingerie ads. In 2002 she moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

and worked as a trade show model.

Murder charge

On July 14, 2005 after a fight with her mother, Sliwinski burst out the door and took her car out in an alleged attempt to take her own life by speeding down Dempster Street in

Skokie, Illinois Skokie (; formerly Niles Center) is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States, neighboring the City of Chicago's northern border. Its population, according to the 2020 census, was 67,824. Skokie lies approximately north of Chicago's do ...

. She ran a red light at high speed, colliding with a car carrying John Glick of The Returnables, Douglas Meis of The Dials and EXO, and

Silkworm The domestic silk moth (''Bombyx mori''), is an insect from the moth family Bombycidae. It is the closest relative of ''Bombyx mandarina'', the wild silk moth. The silkworm is the larva or caterpillar of a silk moth. It is an economically imp ...

. Both vehicles flipped over. The first calls to Skokie

911 911 or 9/11 may refer to: Dates * AD 911 * 911 BC * September 11 ** 9/11, the September 11 attacks of 2001 ** 11 de Septiembre, Chilean coup d'état in 1973 that outed the democratically elected Salvador Allende * November 9 Numbers * 911 ...

came in about 12:15 pm. Before Meis died, he and Sliwinski were both taken to the hospital in ambulances. Police wanted to interview Meis before he went into emergency surgery, but they were too late and Meis died 10 minutes later from multiple injuries. When police interviewed Sliwinski, asking if she purposely drove into the car, she repeatedly changed her story. At 5:30 P.M. on the afternoon of July 15 Skokie police officers arrested Sliwinski in her hospital room. After the crash, Sliwinski underwent surgery for a broken ankle at St. Francis Hospital in Evanston before being transferred to the Cermak Health Services in the

Cook County Cook County is the most populous county in the U.S. state of Illinois and the second-most-populous county in the United States, after Los Angeles County, California. More than 40% of all residents of Illinois live within Cook County. As of 20 ...

Jail. She was later charged with three counts of

first-degree murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person without justification or excuse, especially the c ...

and two counts of

aggravated battery Battery is a criminal offense involving unlawful physical contact, distinct from assault which is the act of creating apprehension of such contact. Battery is a specific common law offense, although the term is used more generally to refer to ...

Trial and imprisonment

Sliwinski pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity and her trial began on October 15, 2007. In an attempt to prove Sliwiniki's diminished mental state, her attorneys showed records that she had been admitted to a Chicago psychiatric hospital only two weeks before the crash and that she had been released after only one day. Sliwinski was found not guilty of first degree murder but was convicted of a lesser charge of

. She was sentenced to eight years in prison, with the possibility of parole after 19 months of good behavior. Upon hearing of the results, a statement from bandmates of the three dead musicians said "words failed them". Sliwinski served her sentence at

Dwight Correctional Center Dwight Correctional Center (DCC), also known as Oakdale Reformatory for Women, and Illinois Penitentiary for Women at Dwight, was a women's prison in Livingston County, Illinois, United States, outside the village of Dwight, Illinois. It oper ...

, a maximum security woman's prison about 80 miles southwest of downtown Chicago. Prison officials secretly transferred Sliwinski from the Dwight Correctional Center to the Lincoln Correctional Center near

Springfield, Illinois Springfield is the capital of the U.S. state of Illinois and the county seat and largest city of Sangamon County. The city's population was 114,394 at the 2020 census, which makes it the state's seventh most-populous city, the second largest o ...

for her protection.

Release from prison

Sliwinski was paroled on the morning of October 2, 2008 from the Lincoln Correctional Center. Sliwinski's incarceration was reduced by an Illinois law that can cut sentences in half. She also received credit for time spent in the Cook County Jail awaiting trial, six months' reduction for good behavior, and three months' reduction for receiving counseling while in prison. The

Illinois Department of Corrections The Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC) is the code department of the Illinois state government that operates the adult state prison system. The IDOC is led by a director appointed by the Governor of Illinois, and its headquarters are in Sp ...

received death threats directed towards Sliwinski shortly before her release. As a result, police stood guard outside her family's home in

Morton Grove Morton Grove is a village in Cook County, Illinois. Per the 2020 census, the population was 25,297. The village is named after former United States Vice President Levi Parsons Morton, who helped finance the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railr ...

. Sliwinski was on

probation Probation in criminal law is a period of supervision over an offender, ordered by the court often in lieu of incarceration. In some jurisdictions, the term ''probation'' applies only to community sentences (alternatives to incarceration), such ...

for a year until October 2, 2009. Her driver's license is eligible to be reinstated as of 2010.

Appearance in media

On August 10, 2008, Sliwinski's story was featured on the

Oxygen Oxygen is the chemical element with the symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group in the periodic table, a highly reactive nonmetal, and an oxidizing agent that readily forms oxides with most elements as wel ...

television series ''

Snapped ''Snapped'' is an American true crime television series produced by Jupiter Entertainment. The series depicts high profile or bizarre cases of women accused of murder. Each episode outlines the motivation for murder, whether it be revenge agains ...

'', which focuses on female criminals. The show did not contain any statements from Sliwinski or her family.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sliwinski, Jeanette 1982 births Living people Female models from Illinois Models from Chicago Criminals from Illinois American people of Polish descent People from Parmer County, Texas 21st-century American women