IL - Rev. Ivon, 65, & Sarah Harris, 24, murdered, Buffalo Grove, 29 June 2005

Police used tracking dogs today to search the Buffalo Grove neighborhood where a minister and his adult daughter were found slain inside the family’s burned-out home.

Ivon Harris, 65, who was pastor of a Lutheran church in Chicago, and his daughter, Sarah Harris, 24, a recent college graduate, both died of blunt trauma after being beaten, authorities said today.

Their bodies were discovered after a fire broke out in the family’s two-story home in the 800 block of Saxon Place about 8 p.m. Wednesday

This morning, police were still examining the family’s home, which neighbors said Harris’s wife, Eileen, also a minister, discovered on fire when she returned home Wednesday evening. While windows were shattered and some burn marks were evident, the house from the outside appeared largely intact.

One dog led investigators more than three-quarters of a mile down the road into neighboring Wheeling, police said, declining to disclose where the dog took them.

http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/fire30.html

After months of ill health, Rev. Ivon Harris had just returned to the pulpit of his Northwest Side church, bursting with enthusiasm for the work ahead. His daughter, Sarah, was one year into her teaching career at a local elementary school.

But on Wednesday night, firefighters responding to a blaze at the family's Buffalo Grove home discovered the bludgeoned bodies of father and daughter.

Investigators said Thursday that while they were following numerous leads, they had no suspects and little idea why someone would have wanted to kill two people whom friends and neighbors described as kind and conscientious.

"We're scrambling to see who did they know, who was [at the house] last--the basics," said a police source close to the investigation.

Ivon Harris' wife, Eileen, arrived home about 8 p.m. Wednesday to find thick smoke pouring from the two-story house in the 800 block of Saxon Place, police said. When firefighters doused the flames, they found the body of Ivon Harris, 65, in the basement, and the body of Sarah Harris, 24, in the ground-floor family room.

Both had marks of blunt trauma to the head and other parts of their bodies, said Cmdr. Steve Husak of the Buffalo Grove Police Department. The throat of at least one victim was slashed, the police source said.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-0507010105jul01,1,3428287.story?coll=chi-newslocal-hed

An autopsy Thursday showed Sarah Harris died of blunt trauma, along with smoke inhalation and carbon monoxide poisoning from the fire.

No autopsy results were available for Ivon Harris.

http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-buffalo01.html

any more news on this case? i haven't been able to find any.

Thesemurders are so sad

As investigators continued to search for clues Friday in the murder of a Buffalo Grove minister and his daughter, members of Rev. Ivon Harris' church held a somber prayer service to honor a man they recalled as a compassionate, jovial giant.

The Cook County medical examiner's office Friday said both died of smoke inhalation, as well as multiple sharp and blunt force trauma wounds. It called the deaths homicides.

While the state fire marshal's office said the fatal blaze was set intentionally, Buffalo Grove police Cmdr. Steve Husak said detectives were still talking with the family's friends and acquaintances, trying to establish a timeline of the victims' final hours. Investigators were examining all possibilities, from robbery to random violence.

"At this point, we don't want to rule anything out," he said.

One sign of trouble came in 2002 when Sarah Harris obtained a protective order against an acquaintance she said had threatened and harassed her with abusive phone calls for almost two years. The person, she said, also had physically prevented her from leaving and had violently broken some of her possessions.

She said she was in fear for her life, and was suffering sleeplessness and emotional problems that prompted her to take medication and get counseling.

The order, which directed the person to stay away from Sarah and her parents, expired last year.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-0507020140jul02,1,4018112.story?coll=chi-newslocal-hed

Investigators returned to the home with surviving family late this week to look for anything unusual, a task made difficult because of the fire damage. It was unclear what investigators may have learned, Cmdr. Steve Husak said.

http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-buffgrove02.html

Hmmm...I hope LE is looking closely at the person who had the protective order against them.

http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-buffalo10.html

Just months ago, Sarah Harris, who was going to teach fifth grade in the fall, bought a puppy. Lola also was killed in the homicides.

Russell H. Sedelmaier, 44, of Chicago, was charged with two counts of first-degree murder, one count aggravated arson and one count of home invasion, according to Buffalo Grove Police Cmdr. Steven Husak.

Sedelmaier had worked for about five or six years cleaning the Harris family's home, Husak said. He said there was no relationship between the defendant and the family other than a professional one.

Husak said that on the day of the slayings Sedelmaier went to burglarize the Harris home, but Elisabeth Harris returned home and interrupted the theft.

The defendant overpowered the woman and bound her with duct tape, Husak said. He said she suffered blunt force trauma, but he could not say whether a weapon was used.

Some time later, Ivon Porter Harris arrived home and Sedelmaier attacked him, Husak said. The defendant was able to overpower the reverend and bind him with duct tape as well, Husak said.

During the struggle, Ivon Porter Harris also suffered blunt force trauma, Husak said.

After both victims were bound, Sedelmaier set the fire to cover up the crime, Husak said. He fled with an undisclosed amount of money taken from the home.
http://www.nbc5.com/news/4751098/detail.html?z=dp&dpswid=2265994&dppid=65192

http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-twodead23.html

Nancy Eileen Harris sat on the witness stand Tuesday facing the man who had beaten, bound and cut the throats of her minister husband and daughter.

She did not tremble with rage. She did not curse Russell Sedelmaier.

She smiled at him and, in a voice that sounded almost motherly, she said: "Russell, Russell, because I value the gift of life, and I know God forgives and loves all of us -- especially you -- I support a sentence of natural life."

"Thank you," Sedelmaier said in a low, barely audible voice.

Cook County Judge Joseph Urso then sentenced Sedelmaier, 44, to life in prison with no possibility of parole for the murders of the Rev. Ivon Harris and his adult daughter, Sarah, during a botched burglary at the family's Buffalo Grove home June 29.