A Judge a Little More Than a Week, and Then OD'd

A former longtime prosecutor who died at the cabin of a fellow southwestern Illinois judge now under federal investigation succumbed to a cocaine overdose, a coroner announced Friday.

Pike County Coroner Paul Petty, who also serves as sheriff, said in a statement that toxicology tests showed Joe Christ, 49, died of cocaine intoxication in St. Clair County Circuit Judge Michael Cook’s cabin about 65 miles northwest of St. Louis in March.

Petty said alcohol also was found in Christ’s system, and that Cook was the only person with Christ at the time. Cocaine and paraphernalia was seized from the cabin, Petty said.

Christ died a little more than a week after being sworn in as a judge in St. Clair County. Cook, a judge in the same county, was booted from his docket of hundreds of cases Thursday because of the unfolding federal investigation confirmed by that county’s state’s attorney and chief judge.

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Illinois Judge Died of Cocaine Overdose