State Police back down from Koschman review

In a puzzling move, the Illinois State Police recently decided not to review the David Koschman homicide case, rejecting requests from Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez. What a shame. What an embarrassment.

Although many details around the case are yet unclear, what is obvious is that Mayor Richard J. Daley's nephew Richard J. “R.J.” Vanecko was involved in the 21-year-old Mount Prospect man's death.

Police have at least indicated that it was Vanecko who threw a punch that hit Koschman in the face outside a Rush Street bar and sent him on a fatal fall that resulted in brain damage and killed him 11 days later. However, no one was ever charged for any crime connected to what the Cook County Medical Examiner called a homicide.

The case was closed in 2004, the same year the incident occurred. The case was opened again earlier this year, but then closed again... still, heavily shrouded in doubt. Conflicting witness accounts and questionable handling of the case by the Chicago Police Department are signs for some that CPD detectives involved did not do all they could do to make sure justice was served. And now it's looking like CPD isn't the only law enforcement agency avoiding the case.

The Chicago Sun-Times' Michael Sneed asks this question in a recent column: Is Alvarez, State Police playing hot potato with Koschman case?

I think there might be a little hot potato going on as Sneed speculates. Read the article linked to above for an interesting look into the idea. 


To end this on a positive note — while it's discouraging that the state police won't review this case, at least Chicago's inspector general is said to have an independent review on slate. 

The Chicago Sun-Times has done an awesome job of staying on top of this story. The articles listed below are essential to understanding what is, and what isn't going on in the Koschman case.

The Watchdogs, Part I: Questions arise in 2004 death involving Daley nephew

The Watchdogs, Part II: Years after death, mom’s anguish won’t end

The Watchdogs, Part III: Witness says Koschman wasn't the aggressor

The Watchdogs, Part IV: Koschman homicide case closed without charges

State Police to review David Koschman homicide

David Koschman

In about 10 days, it will have been 7 years since David Koschman died from brain injuries suffered outside a Rush Street bar in an altercation with a nephew of Mayor Richard M. Daley and White House Chief of Staff William Daley who left Koschman unconscious in the street.

The 21-year-old Mount Prospect man died 11 days later.

The Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled the death a homicide. Police knew that the Daleys’ nephew, Richard J. “R.J.” Vanecko threw the punch that connected with Koschman’s face and sent him on a fall that resulted in fatal brain damage. But no one was charged for the crime; it was ruled self defense, and the case was closed with countless questions still unanswered. The case was opened again earlier this year, but then closed again, still, with numerous questions unanswered.


Now the Illinois State Police department is gearing up for an independent review of the case, keeping alive the hope many have that justice is served. I commend Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez for requesting the review. The Sun-Times also deserves a great deal of credit for not letting this questionable handling of a homicide case involving someone with obvious connections to Chicago power simply fade away. They have been persistent, resourceful and scrappy in digging for the truth.


Read the full story from the Chicago Sun-Times here and read a previous blog post from me about this issue here.

Business as usual? My thoughts on despicable Chicago police actions recently caught on camera

As a black kid growing up in Chicago, I heard all types of horror stories about the Chicago Police Department.

Most of them were urban legends. Most of them were simply fueled by paranoia from a disenfranchised people. But as illustrated by individuals like John Burge, who allegedly took part in the torturing of some 200 or more men, most of them black — there's more than myth fueling anti-police sentiment. It doesn't take a genius to see that CPD has more than its share of bad apples.

The video at the top of this post shows two rotten cops inducing the sort of psychological terror that reinforces attitudes present long before N.W.A. made an anthem summarizing how many people in minority communities feel about the police. The incident was first reported by Chicago Public Radio, in this post on their website from Steve Edwards, who also happens to be a professor of mine at Loyola this semester.

While details about the circumstances of this video are still murky, one thing is obvious: the officers in this video decided to drive a youth, most likely a gang member, to a hostile gang's turf, open the doors of their SUV and allow rival gangsters to threaten and demean the youth.

One might argue that this scary moment might discourage the unidentified youth from gang life. But does something like this really deter the young man from gang life? Does the young man here feel grateful to the police for scaring him straight, or is he more hateful of authorities because they made a victim out of him? If you pick up on the tone of this post, you already know what my verdict is; this sort of behavior breeds hate. And that’s not what the world needs now, there’s enough of that going around.

Hopefully those two officers get what's coming to them. They aren't fit to be on the force or to be in any position of authority. I wouldn’t even want them hired as security at Lincolnwood Mall.

The Fraternal Order Of Police, the union representing CPD officers, railed on former Superintendent Jody Weis, and made his time at his post a living hell. The union even gave him a vote of "no confidence" last March and claimed the rank-and- file didn't believe the guy had their backs. Weis left his post on March 1 this year, after his $310,000-a-year contract expired.

When his appointment was announced in 2008, I thought the department could benefit from a shake up with a stranger to its ranks, especially in light of a long history of scandal and misconduct. But the union never seemed comfortable with him calling the shots. For example, decisions such as shuffling top police officials and handing off investigations of officer William Cozzi's alleged brutality to federal authorities rubbed rank-and-file officers the wrong way.

But the whole point of hiring Weis was to bring in an outsider who wasn't afraid to ruffle some feathers and put an end to what Weis called "business as usual."  The CPD has a long way to go to accomplish what Weis was brought in to do.  How do you tell anyone who has seen this video that "business as usual" no longer takes place?

You can't. Not with a straight face.

Still many questions in homicide case involving Mayor Daley's nephew

The Chicago Police Department recently confirmed that Mayor Richard M. Daley's nephew, Richard J. “R.J.” Vanecko hit a 21-year-old man with a fatal punch -- but police closed the investigation without pressing any criminal charges.

David Koschman, of Mount Prospect, was with friends in the Rush Street area in April 2004 when his group got into an altercation with another group of men, one of whom was Vanecko, 29.

According to the Chicago Sun-Times:

"The case is closed. And the police aren’t talking. But many questions are still unanswered. The police have said only this: No one received special treatment.

Other than that, they have refused to discuss what happened when two groups of drunken revelers ran into each other in the Rush Street area in the early-morning hours of April 25, 2004, and Koschman, a 21-year-old from Mount Prospect, ended up on the street, unconscious, and Richard J. “R.J.” Vanecko, a nephew of the mayor and of White House Chief of Staff William Daley, ended up running away with a friend."

Koschman died 11 days later due to a brain injury from being punched in the head by Vanecko and falling to the concrete, according to reports. 

I think it's definitely premature to close the case with so many lingering questions about the events that led to this young man's death. And contrary to what the police department says, this absolutely smells like special treatment.  Hopefully CPD, or some other agency, digs a little deeper.

To read an excellent article about this, read  the full Chicago Sun-Times report on the issue.  When you're done, jump back here and let me know what you think.