$15,000 reward offered in Elgin murder case
By Dave Gathman dgathman@stmedianetwork.com March 12, 2013 11:30AM
A memorium was placed outside of the home of Lisa Koziol-Ellis who found stabbed to death this weekend in her Garden Quarter home. March 4, 2013 | Michael Smart~Sun-Times Media
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Updated: April 14, 2013 6:25AM
ELGIN — The family and friends of Lisa Koziol-Ellis are offering at least $15,000 as a reward to whoever provides information leading to the arrest and conviction of her killer.
Weeping uncontrollably and flanked by his own parents, her husband, Dash Ellis, made that announcement at a news conference Tuesday afternoon in Elgin police headquarters.
Meanwhile, the head of the police department’s Major Investigations Division, Lt. Sean Rafferty, remained tight-lipped about what the detectives working on the case have found.
Koziol-Ellis, a 33-year-old avant garde artist and jewelry maker, was found stabbed to death about 2:30 a.m. March 2 in her townhouse in Elgin’s Garden Quarter Townhomes. She and Dash had moved in there just three days before from Chicago.
Ellis told police he had found his wife’s body when he came home from work.
Friends of the family have set up a website, Fightforfoxy.com, to solicit more money for the reward and to gather tips. Ellis said approximately $15,000 has been pledged so far.
“She was the most amazing person I ever met,” the bearded customer-service representative said at the press conference. “She was kind and generous and loving — just a beautiful person.”
Ellis said he didn’t know of any “issues” his wife had had with anyone else. He said they couple had been together for eight years and married six years ago.
He said he and Lisa had decided to move from Chicago to Elgin because they wanted “something more permanent — a change of scenery — somewhere safe.”
He said they picked Elgin because she had grown up in the suburbs and he had relatives “out this way.”
His father, Jeff Ellis, looked into cameras from Chicago TV stations and begged anyone who knows what happened to call investigators. “I don’t care why you do it. Do it for the money. Do it because it’s the right thing to do. But do it,” he said.
Ellis’ mother, Carrie Breckie, said that friends of Lisa and Dash set up the website and started collecting the reward money completely on their own — “and these aren’t rich people.”
Elgin art sellers
Going by the nickname “Foxy Goat” and covered with tattoos, Koziol-Ellis and Dash had sold arts and crafts at Elgin’s Monster Mash Up festival last summer. She reportedly was well-known in the Chicago arts and entertainment community, sometimes emceeing shows and parties.
Rafferty said Elgin detectives continue to work on the case “around the clock” but “we are not prepared to release any specific information at this time.”
The lieutenant said investigators realize that social media played a big role in the life of Koziol-Ellis and her friends, and their investigation has included studying websites that talk about her and on which she posted messages.
On her own “Foxy Goat” Facebook page, she had described herself as “a goat-flavored smut lover who makes dazzling jewelry and random art awesomeness.”
Rafferty said numerous tips about the case already have come in from the public and that each one will be checked out, even though many seem to be not relevant to the murder. He said dozens of people have been interviewed.
Saying that giving out too much information could compromise confessions made by future suspects, he declined to say what time investigators believe Koziol-Ellis died and whether they found signs that the townhouse had been forcibly entered. But neighbors say police took away the townhouse’s front door and front storm door, apparently for use as evidence
Anyone with information is urged to call the police at 847-695-4195 (an anonymous tip line) or 847-289-2700 (the regular EPD phone number). They may also text an anonymous tip to 847411; include ELGINPD in the beginning of the text along with the message and/or tip information. The Elgin Police Department utilizes tip411, an Internet-based tool that enables the public to text an anonymous tip to the police, and enables police to respond back, creating an anonymous, two-way “chat.”
