The Cook County Medical Examiners Office has ruled that the case involving the deaths of Marisa Dister and Russell O’Connor was a murder followed by a suicide. The Cook County Medical Examiners Office ruled that Marisa Dister died of a homicide, suffering a gunshot wound to the neck. Russell O’Connor died of suicide from a self-inflicted gunshot to his head.
When Marisa Dister did not arrive at work Thursday at 4:00 p.m. at Old Munich Tavern & Grill on Milwaukee Avenue in Wheeling, a friend went to check on her well-being at home on 12th Street in Wheeling. Marisa Dister, age 46, and her boyfriend Russell O’Connor, age 44, were found deceased at the home.
The police department had a history of domestic-related calls at the home address.
None of the neighbors in the cul-de-sac have reported hearing any gunshots, and the Wheeling Police Department is investigating when the gunshots may have occurred.
Police responded to a 9-1-1 call reporting the tragic discovery at about 5:42 p.m. Thursday, April 11, 2024 in the block of 300 12th Street in Wheeling. Paramedics also responded a few minutes later. Police confirmed the scene was secure, but found a gun alongside the bodies, according to the Wheeling Police Department. Paramedics were allowed to move inside to the scene, and the two victims were pronounced dead inside the home.
According to the Wheeling Police Department, the caller told police that two dead bodies were found during a well-being check on the residents around 5:42 p.m. Wheeling police released a statement that the couple had been in a “strained domestic relationship.”
The Cook County medical examiner’s office (CCMEO) by Friday morning confirmed the identity of the victims as 44-year-old Russell O’Connor and 46-year-old Marisa Dister. Initially on Friday morning, no cause of death was indicated. Initially, neither the police department nor the CCMEO indicated the nature of injuries that may have caused the deaths.
Wheeling Police Department released a statement indicating there is no reason to believe a greater threat to the public exists. The crime scene, located in a one-story home in a cul-de-sac, is a few blocks north of the Wheeling Police Department headquarters.
Each of the victim’s Facebook pages indicated they had been in a relationship with each other. The couple had just attended a comedy appearance at the United Center in Chicago on Thursday, April 4, 2024. Russell O’Connor posted a picture of the couple celebrating a 14-year anniversary at Cheesecake Factory on March 17, 2024.
Marisa Dister has two young adult daughters, who were born before the relationship of Dister and O’Connor. Neither of the daughters lived at the home.
The most recent homicide case in Wheeling was a murder-suicide case involving a male that killed a female outside on Lakeview Drive in Wheeling about 4:50 a.m. on Sunday, June 5, 2022. The case involved two victims discovered in the middle of the street on Lakeview Drive east of Buffalo Grove Road in the Tahoe Village neighborhood in Wheeling near the border with Arlington Heights. Residents heard gunshots in that case.
Wheeling police investigated at a home on 12th Street where two people were found dead Thursday night (Christian Piekos/ABC 7 Chicago). YouTube Tips ⓘ
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