SUN CITY – For the past several years since her husband died, Sun Citian Alyce Grundei enjoyed the attention of, and activities with, her three middle-aged sons. One of them even came to live with her on Morning Glory Lane in Neighborhood 15 in recent months.
But then, in May, two shocking tragedies struck the family that took the lives of all three sons. On May 16, (not on March 16, as reported in the Sun Day and in other published reports earlier) Alyce’s youngest son, Brian, 45, of Deerfield, was found dead in a retention pond near his home. Area law enforcement officials investigated his death and reportedly concluded that there was no foul play involved, but the exact cause of his death is still undetermined.
Next, on May 26, a seemingly routine and harmless discussion about living arrangements among Alyce and her two older sons, Robert, 48, and Mark, 50, escalated into an argument that culminated in gun violence, a police investigation has revealed. Both Mark and Robert suffered fatal gunshot wounds, and Alyce was wounded slightly by a grazing wound to her head. All three were taken to Advocate Sherman Hospital in Elgin. Robert suffered a gunshot wound in his back and died on May 26. Alyce received treatment for her injury and was released that same day. Mark sustained severe head injuries and died June 4 at a Hospice Care Center in Woodstock. An autopsy on Mark was conducted by McHenry County Coroner’s officials on June 5.
According to the coroner’s office and Huntley Police, the shootings have been ruled a murder-suicide, in which Mark Grundei shot his brother, Robert, in the back and then turned his gun on himself.
Huntley and area police officials are still investigating and have reached no final, firm conclusions about all aspects of the shooting incident.
“The gun used was legally owned by Mark, who has lived in the Sun City home with his mother in recent months,” Huntley police chief John Perkins said. “It appears that he went into his bedroom to obtain the gun when an argument with his mother and Robert became heated. It also appears possible from our initial investigation that Mark tried to shoot both his mother and brother. We believe Robert came to Huntley from his home in Coral Springs, Florida, to assist his mother with funeral arrangements for Brian. When we arrived at the home shortly after 5 p.m. On May 26, we found both Robert and Mark in the kitchen, seriously injured with gunshot wounds. Alyce was bleeding from a minor head wound.”
Alyce, 81, called police and met officers at the front door of her home with the gun in her hand, police said in a written statement last week. Officers took the gun from her and then paramedics administered first aid to the victims and transported them to Advocate Sherman Hospital. No other parties were involved in the incident, police said.
According to a neighbor of Alyce, she was an active member of the Sun City Sunflower Garden Club. She played a prominent role in the group’s Celebrity Chef Progressive Luncheon on May 15. Perkins said, “When we were in the home, we noted that she displayed beautiful flowers everywhere.”
This is the second murder incident in Sun City in the past three years. On Mar. 30, 2012, Michelle Mathieu, a 53-year-old rental resident of a home in Neighborhood 10, died from physical injuries inflicted by her boyfriend, Robert Signorile, 45, in a domestic abuse case. Signorile was convicted of first degree murder and is serving a 40-year sentence in a state prison.
