Woman killed by cop boyfriend in 1992 was ‘One in a million’

In 1992, Kathleen “Kathy” Twarowski of Spring Grove was a hard-working, 21-year-old woman who loved ‘80s music, Chicago and DePaul sports teams, Christmas and her family.

The only daughter of Betty and Bob Twarowski and the middle child bookended by an older and younger brother, Kathleen had just graduated with her associate’s degree from the College of Lake County, where she attended on a scholarship.

She was working at Condell Medical Center in Libertyville and studying for her bachelor’s degree to become a physical therapist.

“She was one in a million.”

—  Betty Twarowski said of her daughter Kathleen "Kathy" Twarowski

She was in a relationship with John Cumbee, who was 10 years older than her and a divorced father of two. Cumbee had worked as a part-time police officer in Hainesville, Round Lake Park, Lakemoor and Sunnyside, which is today part of Johnsburg. He also worked as a probationary officer in Fox Lake and as a Fox Lake firefighter and emergency medical technician.

On May 5, 1992, Cumbee beat Twarowski to death with a fireplace poker in a jealous rage, police, prosecutors and two McHenry County juries said.

He maintains his innocence.

Wound doesn’t heal

In 1993, and again in 2002 at a second trial held after his conviction was overturned on a technicality, Cumbee was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison.

“They say all wounds heal with time,” Betty Twarowski said. “This wound doesn’t heal. It’s as raw as ever.”

And Cumbee’s claims of innocence and attempts over the past 30 years to be released from prison have only added to the pain.

Cumbee has twice submitted petitions for clemency as well as an emergency petition for executive clemency during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to his most recent, self-authored clemency petition.

In the petition, Cumbee cited his tumultuous upbringing and the work and college credits earned while in prison. He wrote, “Even if one accepted the state’s version of events (which would appropriately amount to a 2nd degree murder charge) 29 years of productive incarceration would indicate that my commutation of my sentence to time served would be completely reasonable.”

He continued that although he is innocent, he takes responsibility for the “mistakes and missteps” that led to his conviction.

Today, Cumbee, 63, who is in custody at the Sheridan Correctional Center, with the help of lawyers from the Illinois Innocence Project, is motioning the courts to conduct new DNA testing using the latest scientific techniques.

Return to courtroom

This latest attempt brought the Twarowski family back into a McHenry County courtroom on June 30, as the case has done many times since Kathleen Twarowski’s death.

The latest status was set by Judge James Cowlin who disclosed at an earlier hearing that his father was the presiding judge in Cumbee’s first trial.

Cowlin asked Cumbee’s attorneys to discuss with Cumbee, based on that information, whether he wanted his case to be heard by him.

Attorneys for Cumbee appeared on Zoom and said he is OK with Cowlin presiding over his case at this time.

McHenry County Judge Tiffany Davis recused herself from the case in June citing her husband, former McHenry County Assistant State’s Attorney Dan Regna, was the prosecutor at Cumbee’s first trial.

Last week, her family sat together with a photo album Kathleen had put together showing happy pictures with friends at school activities, prom, spring break, graduations and family trips, as well as pictures with Cumbee and dried Valentine’s Day roses.

They recalled her life and their never-ending grief.

Months before her death, she moved out of the home she had bought with Cumbee in Fox Lake and moved back into her parents’ home. This was the second time she left him to move back home, they said.

Her family said she came back to live with them because Cumbee was emotionally and physically abusive.

They said he stalked her numerous times in the months leading up to her death, including Jan. 11, 1992.

That night she was with friends at a dance club, and, despite having an order of protection against him, Cumbee showed up uninvited. He took her on the dance floor and bit her face, nose and tongue drawing blood. Her injuries required medical treatment, according to trial testimony detailed in a 2006 appellate court decision.

She told a friend that night that she “was very afraid” of Cumbee. Before that night, she had told others of him beating and chocking her and fearing for her life, according to court documents.

After bouncers “escorted” him out of the bar on Jan. 11, 1992, he smashed the windows out on her Geo Tracker parked in the parking lot, slashed the convertible top and stole coats and purses from inside, according to trial testimony.

Following the biting incident, Kathleen filed charges of battery and violating an order of protection against Cumbee, according to the Cook County court website.

She later dropped the charges telling her family that she didn’t want to “ruin his life” and career because he had two young children to care for, they recalled. She also feared of what more he would do to her if she sent him to jail.

Betty Twarowski recalled her daughter telling her one day outside the courtroom “He won’t leave me alone until he either maims me to the point no one wants me, or he kills me.”

On May 5, 1992, Betty, Bob and Kathleen’s then 13-year-old brother Brad Twarowski were sitting together for dinner in the Twarowski home – Betty made stuffed green peppers – and the phone rang.

Kathleen answered and told her family that she was going to visit a friend in Antioch.

However, Brad recalled looking out the window and watching as his sister turned her vehicle not in the direction of Antioch, but in the opposite direction toward the home she had once shared with Cumbee.

She didn’t return home

She did not come home that night or call, which was unusual, her family said.

Her parents said if she was not coming home at night after being out with anyone she would always call. Bob Twarowski said he drove by the Cumbee residence about 2:30 a.m. and did not see her Geo Tracker and assumed she had parked it inside his garage.

The next morning Betty Twarowski left a note on the kitchen counter telling her daughter to call her when she got home. Betty and Bob went to work and Brad Twarowski went to school where his mom worked as a lunch lady.

Betty Twarowski got a call from police later that day saying they found her daughter’s vehicle. She called her husband home from work and her older son Rick Twarowski home from college.

Later, the family learned she had been killed and went to the McHenry County coroner’s office to identify her body.

Her body was found bloodied in her Geo Tracker, abandoned on a secluded road near a company where Cumbee once worked and about a quarter-mile from his home, according to the family and court documents.

Cumbee wasn’t arrested for six months and his house was not searched for five days, the family said.

During that time Cumbee was seen removing items from the house, and though it was early May the fireplace was often lit, the family said claiming they were removing and burning evidence.

Thirty years later the family still feels her loss.

They talk about her daily and believe she visits often and influences moments shared between Brad and Rick’s children in the way they speak and facial expressions.

They also believe she visited during a recent family party by way of a rainbow.

“She was one in a million,” Betty Twarowski said.

Bob Twarowski, crying each time he spoke about his daughter, said they raised their kids to be loving and kind.

“She was a great person,” he said.