Why a true-crime podcast is revisiting the Kisliak family tragedy
Nearly two and a half years after a Buffalo Grove man murdered his family and killed himself, Buffalo Grove officials and a family friend will speak about the tragedy on a true-crime podcast.
Familicide, a podcast for the fwd. network hosted by Emmy-winning Producer Sam Mettler and Amy B. Chesler, an author, podcaster, survivor and victim advocate, revisits the story of the Kisliak family.
Andrei Kisliak, 39, fatally stabbed his wife, Vera, 36; daughters Vivian, 7, and Amilia, 4; and his 67-year-old mother, Lilia Kisliak, on Nov. 30, 2022. He then stabbed himself to death.
Police conducting a well-being check found the bodies. Prior to their discovery in their Acacia Terrace home, police responded to 14 calls involving the family.
The podcast will air in two parts, beginning Tuesday, on a variety of podcasting platforms, including Apple, iHeart and Spotify.
“The goal is for someone to listen and say, ‘Oh my God, that's me, or that's my mom, that's my dad, that's my kid,’ and reach out for help,” Mettler said.
Chesler brings personal insight to the project. Her brother murdered their mother, and she has spent more than a decade telling her story and the stories of others to raise awareness and hopefully prevent similar tragedies.
“You have some pretty incredible people in Buffalo Grove,” Mettler said in an interview Monday. “I was so thoroughly impressed by their professionalism, but also their heart.”
Village officials offer insights to the podcasters.
“We approached this opportunity with great care and compassion, hoping to shed light on warning signs, share the perspective of and impact to first responders, and emphasize the importance of support and prevention,” said Buffalo Grove police Chief Brian Budds, who appears along with Village Manager Dane Bragg.
Also appearing on the podcast is family friend Natasha Kuzmenko, who organized a GoFundMe campaign in the wake of the tragedy.
“It wasn’t easy to do. I’m just hoping something good will come out of the podcast for someone who needs help,” said Kuzmenko, who lived just five houses away from the Kisliaks.
Kuzmenko and Vera got to know each other as neighbors through their children. Coincidentally, Kuzmenko and Andrei Kisliak went to the same high school, Maine East, in Park Ridge.
But her relationship with Vera grew closer as Vera and Andrei went through divorce proceedings in the summer of 2022.
“She tried a lot of options. We looked into shelters,” she said. “People cannot blame her that she didn't do something. She did whatever she could to save herself and, first of all, her kids.”