Ex-prosecutor charged with mishandling high-profile murder case had son wipe phone after being fired

After being fired following a shocking revelation that he had a close friendship with a con man-turned-witness in a high-profile murder case, former Cook County prosecutor Nicholas Trutenko allegedly asked his son to help him delete the contents of his cellphone.

Joseph Trutenko recalled the exchange Tuesday during the last day of testimony in his father’s trial on charges tied to the troubled prosecution of Jackie Wilson, whose case was integral in revealing systemic torture within the Chicago Police Department.

Jackie Wilson and his brother, Andrew Wilson, were convicted in the 1982 murder of Chicago police officers Richard O'Brien and William Fahey, but they had their convictions overturned based on allegations of torture by detectives working under the notorious Cmdr. Jon Burge. The pair were later convicted again, and Andrew Wilson died in prison in 2007.

The charges against Jackie Wilson were ultimately dropped following Nicholas Trutenko’s testimony in a final trial in 2020, when he acknowledged that he failed to disclose his relationship with a key witness he encountered as a prosecutor in Jackie Wilson's second trial.

The two became so close that the witness, a British con artist named William Coleman, had asked Nicholas Trutenko to be his daughter’s godfather — as evidenced by a 30-year-old baptism certificate that was revealed at Jackie Wilson’s last trial.

After that bombshell, Nicholas Trutenko returned to the home he shared with his son in La Grange and gathered his work IDs, cellphone and computer to return to his boss, Joseph Trutenko testified Tuesday. The younger Trutenko said he asked his father if he had been fired, and his dad nodded yes.

“I could tell he was in an angered manner,” Joseph Trutenko told Lake County Judge Daniel Shanes, who took over the case playing out in a Rolling Meadows courtroom following the recusal of the Cook County judiciary.

Joseph Trutenko said his father started deleting personal photos and videos from his work cellphone. But the younger Trutenko said he ultimately suggested a factory reset when he was asked to help, wiping the phone of its data and settings.

Joseph Trutenko said he was unaware that his dad failed to turn the phone over to his boss — and that it was instead recovered by a Cook County inspector nearly a week later.

When special prosecutors asked why they didn't simply delete data in bulk, Joseph Trutenko said they didn’t know how to remove multiple personal contacts at once. The factory reset was the easiest way to get rid of the personal content, he testified.

He said his dad didn’t tell him that the contents were linked to an ongoing court case. And he said he didn’t know if Coleman’s contact information was among the data that was wiped out.

Nicholas Trutenko, 69, faces charges of perjury, official misconduct, obstruction of justice and violating a local records act while testifying as a witness during the 2020 trial. Andrew Horvat, another former assistant state's attorney, is accused of official misconduct for representing Trutenko at the same trial.

James Reilly, a former public defender who represented Coleman in the 1980s, testified later Tuesday that Nicholas Trutenko was working as a prosecutor when Coleman picked up a drug case and was charged with escaping state custody.

Nicholas Trutenko helped negotiate a plea deal for Coleman, Reilly said. In exchange for truthful testimony in the case against Jackie Wilson, the state would toss the drug charge and give Coleman the minimum sentence for escape.

After testifying in Jackie Wilson’s second trial in 1989, Coleman gave two depositions in Wilson's brother's civil cases and was deported back to England at the end of the year. Nicholas Trutenko wasn't present for the depositions, and Reilly said he hadn't seen or spoken to him since.

Prosecutors peppered Reilly with questions about Coleman’s cozy relationship with Nicholas Trutenko, and Reilly repeatedly said it would have been impossible for the two to have met privately without his knowledge. Reilly insisted he had "no issue with Trutenko's integrity or honesty.”

Throughout Tuesday’s testimony, Nicholas Trutenko and Horvat could be seen whispering to each other and their lawyers. The cross-examination grew contentious at times, and a short outburst from Nicholas Trutenko caused both his attorney and Horvat to shush him.

Closing statements are expected Wednesday.