Coroner: Elderly child molester suffered fatal heart attack

Posted on October 30, 2018
Icard
Convicted child molester Johnny Icard, 78, of Bloomington died Tuesday of an apparent heart attack, according to Coroner Kathy Davis. (McLean County Jail photo)

 

By Howard Packowitz

BLOOMINGTON – An elderly Bloomington man, who allegedly stabbed himself in a McLean County courtroom after a jury found him guilty of child molestation, died Tuesday of apparent natural causes.

McLean County Coroner Kathy Davis said Johnny Icard, 78, suffered a heart attack. Icard was taken from the McLean County Jail, where he had been in custody since his trial, to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead about 10:20 Tuesday morning.

The coroner’s office investigates all deaths of defendants who are in custody.

A jury convicted Icard in July of sexually assaulting a six year old girl in Bloomington last year. Icard stabbed himself in the stomach with a folding knife after the jury returned its verdict. Icard was out on bond at the time, and authorities say he managed to smuggle the knife into the courtroom.

Icard defended himself at trial, but hired an attorney to represent him at sentencing, which was scheduled for Friday. He faced up to 60 years in prison.

Howard Packowitz can be reached at [email protected]

Blogs

Labor Day – Expanding voting rights for all

By Mike Matejka Because of COVID, there is no Labor Day Parade this year.  It’s always a great event for our everyday workers to march proudly down the street and enjoys the festive crowd. If there had been a parade, this year’s Labor Day theme was to be “150 years of struggle: your right to vote.” …

Is federal mobilization the answer?

By Mike Matejka As President Donald Trump threatens to send federal marshals into Chicago, over the objections of Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, recall another Illinois Governor who protested the incursion of armed federal personnel into the city.   Those federal troops, rather than calming, escalated the situation, leading to deaths and violence. Illinois poet Vachel Lindsay…

In these troubled times, to my fellow white Americans

By Mike Matejka Our nation is at a unique watershed in human relations. African-Americans have been killed too many times in the past before George Floyd, but the response to this man’s death is international and all-encompassing. I was a grade-schooler during the Civil Rights 1960s. I watched Birmingham demonstrators hosed and the Selma – Montgomery…

Workers’ Memorial Day – Remember those whose job took their life

Looking around our community, when we say employer, most will respond to State Farm, Country, or Illinois State University.   We too often forget those who are building our roads, serving our food, or our public employees. COVID-19 has made us more aware of the risk.  Going to work every day for some people means…