Found Deceased IL - Andrew Freund, 5, Crystal Lake, 17 April 2019 *Arrests* - #4

[osu]

@osu do you recall date haircut photo was posted?
The blatant head injuries in the photos prob from the March 4 beating.
Who in the eff keeps a 5yo in a crib?

And, the friend the female murderer texted, do we know who he/she is? Tysm

It was posted March 11th.

 

[Trudie]

Drugs didn't cause this. Drugs were her veil to prevent facing what she was doing to her own child. I hope she is forever haunted by her actions.

Her drug use left her w/o a functioning brain!
Any little thing set her off. Bet when she was using she never touched him. When her rush wore off & she had no stash, anyone or anything in her way was in danger of being killed. Moo

 

[ManicMuggle83]

I still do not see a distorted head. Especially when you compare all the pictures together.

 

[Trudie]

It was posted March 11th.

Tysm. Everyone, look at the photo in Osu’s post, if you have not seen it. Look at his head! Bet those BUMPS are from the March 04 beating.

 

[Trudie]

I still do not see a distorted head. Especially when you compare all the pictures together.

Look at the second photo. Notice AJ’s right side skull area. The kid drastically changed, see the dark circles under his eyes? His head is swollen to the point his ears are misaligned.
Compare these photos to earlier photos, doesn’t even look like the same kid.
His nerves must have been shattered.
And the other photo with AJ covered with facial knots. What else was going on? Was she washing him with bleach? The fact Sr mentioned using a gallon of bleach a week has me speculating. Sure doesn’t sound like they cleaned with it.

 

[Trudie]

I see your perspective as well and respect your opinion. Let’s hope the medical staff and prison guards do what they do best for that baby, whatever it may be.

IMO,it is to get the baby out of JC’s room STAT
No way should any child ever be near her.
Again, the heroin laced placenta JC supplied is enough.
She’s an animal & deserves to be locked in her room, like AJ was, & she will be.

 

[ManicMuggle83]

Look at the second photo. Notice AJ’s right side skull area. The kid drastically changed, see the dark circles under his eyes? His head is swollen to the point his ears are misaligned.
Compare these photos to earlier photos, doesn’t even look like the same kid.
His nerves must have been shattered.
And the other photo with AJ covered with facial knots. What else was going on? Was she washing him with bleach? The fact Sr mentioned using a gallon of bleach a week has me speculating. Sure doesn’t sound like they cleaned with it.

I still think the 2nd photos "distortion " is a lighting issue. I think he has black eyes and she purposely chose the lighting to show the haircut but hide the bruises on his face. I don't believe there are any skull deformities in these photos but it's also hard to be 100% certain with the lighting and angles.

 

[osu]

Tysm. Everyone, look at the photo in Osu’s post, if you have not seen it. Look at his head! Bet those BUMPS are from the March 04 beating.

The article said that the video JC filmed on March 4th, AJ’s neck, chest and eyes were badly bruised.

In the haircut photos posted on March 11th, in the 3rd and 4th photos, you can see bruising on his neck. And although the 2nd photo is dark, I think his eyes look bruised in that photo as well.

 

[osu]

SEE INSIDE AJ FREUND'S HOME: We're getting our first look inside the home where 5-year-old AJ Freund lived.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=396619874298348

 

[Trish51]

I had a feeling it was AJ Sr who caved. I wonder what JC's explanation of everything was. This is just so heartbreaking to read!

 

[Trudie]

I still think the 2nd photos "distortion " is a lighting issue. I think he has black eyes and she purposely chose the lighting to show the haircut but hide the bruises on his face. I don't believe there are any skull deformities in these photos but it's also hard to be 100% certain with the lighting and angles.

I think it has nothing to do with lighting. Use a straight edge on the second picture, his head is distorted!
It’d only been a week since the March 04 beating. Not to mention, he aged dramatically. I wonder if he suffered some type of brain damage on March 04.
I can’t wait for her to deliver the baby & it be taken away from her. She’s a repulsive, disgusting, low life piece of crap. Moo

 

[MyBelle]

My heart just breaks. JC beat him severely in March and per AJsr statement, beatings were a frequent punishment. He never had time to recover from one beating before the next.

I just wish someone could have held and comforted him.

She will never pass the competency test. It requires understanding the charges and being able to participate in her defense and more. When she made the statement in court, she didn't know if she had a lawyer, I knew what she was planning.

JC is planning on using the system to secure a nice cosy spot in a mental hospital. Lots of activities, outings, and group therapy.

AJsr will go to prison and they don't like child murders, so I hear.

BBM. I strongly disagree. JC isn't insane. She hired an attorney prior to her arrest and refused to cooperate with police. Her husband confessed. They both are going to prison and deservedly so.

JMO

 

[Trudie]

The article said that the video JC filmed on March 4th, AJ’s neck, chest and eyes were badly bruised.

In the haircut photos posted on March 11th, in the 3rd and 4th photos, you can see bruising on his neck. And although the 2nd photo is dark, I think his eyes look bruised in that photo as well.

And she was feeling “blessed”. Why? Because he lived thru that beating?
Remember when you first got these photos we discussed the haircut might have been for her to get a better look at his head. Obviously she could feel it. I’m sure he had major headaches. Even his smile is fake, she probably told him to smile & even tho he was in pain, he had to.

 

[Trish51]

The article said that the video JC filmed on March 4th, AJ’s neck, chest and eyes were badly bruised.

In the haircut photos posted on March 11th, in the 3rd and 4th photos, you can see bruising on his neck. And although the 2nd photo is dark, I think his eyes look bruised in that photo as well.

The right side of his head looks bruised too.

 

[kaen]

WARNING! GRAPHIC DETAILS

Report details abuse, parents’ disposal of body of 5-year-old son after his death
4:40pm

Note to readers: This story contains graphic details about allegations of child abuse and murder.

WOODSTOCK – AJ Freund’s father led investigators to the spot where he allegedly buried the 5-year-old boy’s body after storing him for days in a plastic tote in the family’s basement, McHenry County court records show.

Previously sealed search warrants filed in McHenry County court reveal details about the investigation into AJ’s disappearance and the cell phone records that eventually prompted the boy’s father, Andrew Freund Sr., to confess his role in the child’s death and burial.

An affidavit written by McHenry County Sheriff’s Det. Edwin Maldonado describes a pattern of physical abuse against AJ, including a two-minute cellphone video from March that showed the boy lying naked on a bare mattress, covered in bruises and bandages, Maldonado wrote.

On the morning of April 24, Freund led police to an area near ComEd transmission towers off Dean Street, near Woodstock, the affidavit shows. It was there that Freund, 60, buried AJ’s body in a shallow grave and covered it with straw, Maldonado wrote. Freund also told investigators how he and AJ’s mother, JoAnn Cunningham, forced the child to take a cold shower on the evening of April 14 as a punishment for lying about soiling his underwear, Maldonado wrote.

“Drew explained that he wanted JoAnn to stop with the hard physical beatings and do some less violent form of punishment,” Maldonado wrote. “Drew said cold showers was decided.”

According to Freund, AJ was forced to stay in the shower about 20 minutes before his parents put him to bed “cold, wet and naked.” The father went on to say that sometime later, Cunningham discovered her son unresponsive in bed. An examination of Freund’s cell phone revealed an internet search for “child CPR” at 3:17 a.m. on April 15, Maldonado wrote.

Later that morning, Freund told police he put AJ’s body in a large plastic tote in the basement of the family’s home at 94 Dole Ave. in Crystal Lake, Maldonado wrote. Freund said it was two days later, on the night of April 17, that he put the boy’s body into garbage bags, then put the body in the trunk of his car, and drove the body to the burial site, Maldonado wrote.

Cunningham and Freund each face multiple charges including first-degree murder in connection with AJ’s death. They are being held at the McHenry County jail with bond of $5 million apiece, and are barred from contact with one another.

Cell-phone information keyed confession

Freund confessed to FBI Special Agent Carrie Landau and Crystal Lake Det. David Eitel around 2:40 a.m. on April 24, nine days after AJ is believed to have died, and six days after Freund reported him missing on April 18. An autopsy conducted April 25 determined that AJ died of brain trauma as the result of multiple blunt-force injuries to his head.

Police received warrants to search both Freund’s and Cunningham’s phones, along with a phone belonging to a close friend of Cunningham, to find information that led to the confession.

In addition to the early morning search for “child CPR” on April 15, investigators found a picture of a shopping list taken to the Crystal Lake Jewel-Osco store around 9 p.m. on April 17, which contained items including duct tape, plastic gloves, air freshener and bleach, according to the affidavit. Freund told police he purchased the bleach for cleaning, and the tape to hang photos. Freund said the family usually would go through a gallon of bleach each week.

Freund called police on April 18 to report AJ missing. The 60-year-old attorney told police he had a doctor appointment at 6:30 a.m. that morning in Elgin, and had been careful to collect proof.

“Two FBI agents followed up at the doctor’s office to confirm Drew had been there. Once there, they spoke with [an employee] who confirmed Drew has been there,” Maldonado wrote. “[The employee] said when she checked Drew out and asked if he would like a receipt, Drew accepted and commented to her something to the effect of, ‘The lawyer in me thinks I need a paper trail.’ “

Freund showed Crystal Lake police his appointment card, and suggested the officers make a copy of it and put it in the case file, Maldonado wrote.

“… It struck [Eitel] as suspicious in light of the additional information learned,” Maldonado wrote.

Cunningham’s phone contained a previously deleted March 4 video of AJ lying naked in a crib, with bandages around his wrists and hips and an ice pack over his eyes. The boy’s chest, neck and eyes were badly bruised, Maldonado wrote.

“In the video a female with a voice consistent with JoAnn’s is holding the phone and videotaping,” Maldonado wrote. “She is berating AJ for urinating his bed.”

It did not appear AJ had received professional medical care, according to the affidavit.

When FBI and Crystal Lake investigators confronted Freund with the video on April 24, he confessed that he believed AJ died April 15, according to the affidavit. Freund allegedly told police that Cunningham caused AJ’s injuries as seen in the video.

Phone records also revealed at least 88 deleted contacts between Cunningham and her friend between April 11 and 15. In a message from April 16, Cunningham complained to her friend that AJ was misbehaving, Maldonado wrote. Freund told police that Cunningham believed AJ had a disorder that made him defiant of authority, and so had to punish the boy, including with beatings or by locking him in his room for hours at a time.

Child removed from ‘hoarder-like’ home

On April 19, investigators interviewed AJ’s younger brother at the McHenry County Child Advocacy center, Maldonado’s affidavit shows. The 4-year-old boy told interviewers his parents had told him not to talk about AJ, and said that his mother told him AJ had “fallen down the stairs and has a lot of owies,” Maldonado wrote.

The younger boy is in the care of the Illinois Department of Family and Child Services, and prosecutors have petitioned to terminate both Cunningham’s and Freund’s parental rights. The agency is involved in an ongoing investigation into claims of abuse and neglect inside the home.

DCFS had contact with AJ on and off since he was born in 2013 with opiates in his system, placing him in foster care for more than a year after he was born. Cellphone records obtained during the investigation into the boy’s death provided video-recorded evidence that AJ had sustained injuries in the past.

As police continued to search Freund and Cunningham’s home, the family appeared to be living in what Maldonado described as “hoarder like conditions.”

The basement area, in particular, was filled with “numerous garbage bags stacked upon each other,” the warrant stated.

Police also noted household debris piled up throughout the home as well as outside against the attached garage, which was filled from floor to ceiling with garbage and debris, Maldonado wrote.

It wasn’t officers’ first time at the home.

Police had numerous contacts at the Dole Avenue house, a majority of which were in reference to well-being checks or domestic violence situations, Maldonado wrote. Both Freund and Cunningham were also known of to have abused narcotics in the past.

While Freund’s phone was being analyzed, officers searched inside the home, where they located a pair of red and black men’s size 11 Nike gym shoes that were “dripping wet with mud,” police wrote. The shoes were sent to FBI headquarters in Quantico, Virginia to be examined.

As the search inside the home continued, police located in the dining room a white garbage bag containing wet clothes that smelled heavily of bleach, police wrote. Officers located a total of four empty bleach bottles that had been thrown in garbage bins, Maldonado wrote.


Report details 5-year-old's death, abuse and how Andrew Freund led police to spot he buried son | Northwest Herald

Well, now we know what happened to this poor little boy. He sounds so beaten on 3/4 that he could have been killed. What monster films the child while berating him after a beating?

It is awful that Freund, Sr knew that she was going to far and beating him too badly but his only solution was to throw him into the cold shower after he was beaten. I am just beside myself with the callousness of her and the cowardice of Sr.

After many days of speculation, we now know we couldn't imagine the horror of the lives of these kids. Poor younger brother, hearing that his brother fell down the stairs and was hurt but cautioned not to talk about him. The only consolation is that AJ's death and discovery may have saved the younger brother's life.

 

[osu]

I’m reposting the Crystal Lake PD Affidavit for Search Warrant documents.

These are a much higher quality than the previous images that I posted upthread and much easier to read.

There are a total of 10 pages.

 

[Simply Southern]

BBM. I strongly disagree. JC isn't insane. She hired an attorney prior to her arrest and refused to cooperate with police. Her husband confessed. They both are going to prison and deservedly so.

JMO

I agree competence is different than insanity.

Insanity is a mental illness

Competency is about understanding and participation in her defense. Reasoning ability, sorta.
I maybe insane but I am able to drive a car and follow the rules of the road, would kinda be an example.

 

[Trudie]

SEE INSIDE AJ FREUND'S HOME: We're getting our first look inside the home where 5-year-old AJ Freund lived.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=396619874298348

Now, when mom was passed out after her heroin rush, look at all the things two little guys could get into. That was likely part of her problem. Each time she came down, she’d nod off, leaving them unattended, if they weren’t locked in their rooms. After a short nap, she’d wake with intense cravings & go ballistic, imo.
Of course AJ probably was never potty trained properly because she was busy trying to find a vein orva bag.
It won’t surprise me if his internal organs were severely damaged from his beatings.
Omg, the house......, I have no words. Who lives like that?

 

[kaen]

Her drug use left her w/o a functioning brain!
Any little thing set her off. Bet when she was using she never touched him. When her rush wore off & she had no stash, anyone or anything in her way was in danger of being killed. Moo

I just can't go with the idea that she had a non-functioning brain. She knew enough to ice his wounds. She knew enough to delete things from her phone. She participated in the cover up to the point of telling the younger one to not speak of AJ. Is she deranged? Yes. Is she a monster? Yes. Incompetent? Not in my opinion. She makes too many decisions to do wrong, drive a car, create a cover up.

You may be right about what set her off. But, she is far from incompetent and, by giving her that leeway, she has an excuse. IMO, there is no excuse.

 

[osu]

BBM. I strongly disagree. JC isn't insane. She hired an attorney prior to her arrest and refused to cooperate with police. Her husband confessed. They both are going to prison and deservedly so.

JMO

ITA. AF Sr confessed and I’ve read that JC did not confess to LE.

JMO