Winnebago County Coroner’s Office must disclose Marengo woman’s autopsy records, Illinois Attorney General’s Office finds

The Winnebago County Coroner’s Office must provide the Northwest Herald with public records that the newspaper requested regarding the death and disappearance of former Marengo woman Michelle Arnold-Boesiger, according to a recent opinion from the Illinois Attorney General’s Office Public Access Bureau.

The bureau issued its opinion Oct. 22, finding the Winnebago County Coroner’s Office did not meet its burden in denying the newspaper’s request for records related to Arnold-Boesiger’s autopsy.

The coroner’s office previously cited an exemption claiming that releasing that information would “create a substantial likelihood that a person will be deprived of a fair trial or an impartial hearing.”

At the time of the Northwest Herald’s request, no charges had been filed in connection with 33-year-old Arnold-Boesiger’s death.

[ Timeline: The death and disappearance of Michelle Arnold-Boesiger ]

Prosecutors in Winnebago County have since charged the woman’s former boyfriend, 34-year-old Jonathan Van Duyn, in connection with her death.

“The response to this office by the [Freedom of Information Act] liaison of the coroner’s office acknowledged that no criminal charges had been filed at the time of Ms. Smith’s request, but noted that on August 6, 2021, a defendant was charged with first-degree murder and concealment of a homicide in connection with Ms. Arnold-Boesiger’s death,” Public Access Bureau Chief Steve Silverman wrote in the Oct. 22 opinion. “The response further stated: ‘As a person has now been charged with a crime, my reason for denial stands.’ ”

The bureau disagreed, noting, in part, that “the coroner’s office has not explained how disclosure of any information in the toxicology and autopsy reports – much less all of the information in those reports – would interfere with the fairness of a trial.”

The records reviewed by the bureau did not appear to contain any information about the defendant, Jonathan Van Duyn, or inflammatory details that potentially could taint a jury pool, Silverman wrote.

The bureau additionally requested that the Winnebago County Coroner’s Office disclose the requested records to the newspaper.

The Northwest Herald had not yet received those records as of Friday, a week after the opinion was issued.

The request for Arnold-Boesiger’s autopsy report marks the second denial the newspaper has sent to the bureau for review in the case of Arnold-Boesiger’s death and disappearance.

Holiday Hills Police Chief Darec Kleczka previously denied the Northwest Herald’s public records request seeking Arnold-Boesiger’s Jan. 3 missing persons report. At the time, Kleczka claimed he would need to check with the McHenry County Sheriff’s Office before releasing the document.

About a week after the Northwest Herald sent Kleczka’s denial to the bureau for review, however, the police department emailed a copy of the report.