The former roommate said in a phone interview that Holliman rented a room in his Uptown apartment for about 2 months, and at different points told him he was a funeral director, that he'd spent 12 years in the military and that he was a legal consultant.



He said Holliman admitted being bipolar, was violent with dogs and would sometimes talk to himself. He said Holliman told him about his relationship with a married man, but gave it a different spin.



"He told me that he had married this guy and then his wife found out about the marriage, so he had to pay him a settlement of $400,000," said the former roommate, who asked that his name not be used.



Holliman's younger sister, Brittany, said her brother moved to Chicago last year and told the family he had developed a romantic relationship with a rich, married man that had gone sour.



"He (the executive) was harassing John, telling him not to tell anyone about their relationship and making threats," she said. "I know John was very scared."



Brittany Holliman described her brother as "goofy" but nonviolent. About a decade ago, he was diagnosed with a delusional disorder that caused him to "feel like he was a police officer or a paramedic" or other professions he was accused of impersonating, she said. She said her brother was treated with medication and the episodes seemed to stop.



Holliman grew up in the Columbus area, where in 2003 and 2004 he was charged in a number of incidents in which he allegedly impersonated a police officer. In one, he called a medical helicopter to a non-existent accident scene, according to court records and news reports.



In 2004, Columbus police issued a warrant for his arrest on charges he pointed a 9 mm handgun at a man he'd met on an internet chat line, records show.



A few months later, Holliman was arrested in Cincinnati for posing as a Lexington, Ky., physician. According to a report in the Cincinnati Enquirer, Holliman convinced firefighters he was authorized to go on ambulance runs.



Court records in Hamilton County, Ohio, show Holliman pleaded guilty in 2005 to practicing medicine without a license and disrupting public service stemming from the doctor-impersonation case and was sentenced to 15 months in prison.



Holliman's mother -- Kimberly Parker, 53, a nurse in Columbus, Ohio -- said she is "so angry" and confused.



Parker said her son was down on his luck recently and would "probably do anything for money," but also claimed the victim was "taking advantage" of Holliman.



"You're painting my son out to be bad but this is a man who has a family," Parker said.



Parker said her son was sexually abused as a child and has "low self-esteem," and she is "very worried" about him.



Parker declined to discuss her son's criminal record but said he had problems with the law "when he was a kid."



sschmadeke@tribune.com

jmeisner@tribune.com

rsobol@tribune.com



