MURDER

The former osteopathic doctor was the focus of a federal investigation and was accused of running an illegal prescription operation at a South Side medical center he owned and operated, which dispensed painkillers such as oxycodone to as many as 400 people a day from 2006 until it shut down in 2013.

In January 2017, he agreed to plead guilty to drug, fraud and tax-evasion charges. He had to surrender nearly $30 million from his personal accounts and his business operations and to forfeit four properties encompassing 464 acres. He surrendered his license to practice medicine, and was awaiting a five-year prison sentence arranged under a plea agreement when he was killed.

Kevin Lake’s wife, Dr. Susan Lake, and their son told investigators that they believed Lake’s death was the result of his agreement Jonah Lake, center, is taken into custody by, left, Sgt. Bill Duffer and detective Bryan Meister of the Franklin County sheriff’s office Wednesday. Lake is accused of killing his father, Kevin Lake, at their Plain Township home and blaming the 2017 shooting on an intruder.

to cooperate with the federal government as a condition of his plea deal, according to a search-warrant affidavit. When Jonah talked with 911 operators, he told them

that he and his mother were carrying guns because of the threats and screamed that “police wouldn’t listen.”

Days before the slaying, they said, someone had

broken into their home, taken a photo of Jonah sleeping and then sent Kevin Lake the photo along with a threatening letter.

Maj. Steve Tucker of the sheriff’s office said detectives spoke with Jonah Lake the day of the shooting. But neither he nor his mother would answer questions after that, and both retained an attorney. Tucker said detectives don’t believe that Susan Lake was involved.

Tucker said that murder cases where there is a plan or premeditation — which is believed to have occurred here — are among the most difficult to investigate. But detectives spent months working through the evidence before the prosecutor’s office agreed there was enough evidence to present to the grand jury.

“We had to get it right,” Tucker said. “We were comfortable about what we had developed that we got it right.” Kevin Lake