By Steve Rhodes
Reading the stories about the death of David Koschman in the Sun-Times led one of my contributors to wonder this week where the paper was seven years ago when the actual incident occurred. I wondered too; I presumed a fight outside a bar didn’t result in any coverage at all, but in fact the papers back then – if briefly – were asking some of the same questions they are now. Let’s take a look.
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Headline: Mayor’s Nephew Quizzed in Fatal Fight – No charges in Suburban Man’s Death Outside Bar
Date: Saturday, May 22, 2004
Newspaper: Sun-Times
Reporters: Frank Main, Fran Spielman
“A nephew of Mayor Daley was among those questioned by Chicago Police about a fight outside a Near North bar that led to the death of a suburban man, sources said Friday.
Richard J. Vanecko, the son of Daley’s sister Mary Carol Vanecko, has not been charged in connection with the fight at 3:15 a.m. on April 25 on the sidewalk at 35 W. Division, officials said.
“On that morning, David Koschman , 21, of Mount Prospect, got into an altercation with three unknown men, said Sgt. Robert Cargie, a police spokesman. One of the men pushed Koschman and he fell backward, striking his head on the pavement.
“Koschman was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where he died on May 6, Cargie said.
“‘We have been working with the state’s attorney’s office on this,’ Cargie said. ‘At this time, charges are not warranted based on the evidence.’
“Richard Vanecko, 29, was questioned by Belmont Area detectives along with several other people, including witnesses, sources said. Vanecko could not be reached for comment.
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“The family of David Koschman could not be reached for comment.”
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Headline: Daley Nephew At Fatal Fight Scene
Date: May 22, 2004
Newspaper: Tribune
Reporters: Jeff Coen, Carlos Sadovi
“A nephew of Mayor Richard Daley was present at a fight that resulted in a man’s death, but there was no evidence the nephew was involved in the altercation and he has not been charged, law-enforcement officials said Friday.
“David Koschman, 21, of Mt. Prospect died of blunt-head trauma on May 6, 12 days after he was involved in an early morning fight near the Rush Street bar strip, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
“Witnesses told investigators that Richard Vanecko, the 30-year- old son of the mayor’s sister, Mary Carol Vanecko, was among a group of men who got into a tussle with Koschman and his friends, according to law-enforcement authorities.
“Koschman was punched or pushed to the ground and his head hit the pavement, police said. A relative said Koschman was about 5-foot 3- inches tall and weighed about 125 pounds.”
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“Vanecko has not been identified as the person who pushed or punched Koschman, investigators said. Witnesses did not pick him out of a lineup Thursday, the investigators said.
“‘We were consulted about this by the police and agreed that no charges would be placed against any individual in this case at this time. There were four guys, and Vanecko was one of them,’ said John Gorman, a spokesman for the Cook County state’s attorney’s office.
“Vanecko’s attorney did not return calls for comment.
“Officials in the state’s attorney’s office also said the preliminary investigation suggests the victim may have been the aggressor.
“Sgt. Robert Cargie, a spokesman for the Chicago Police Department, said police are continuing to treat the death as a homicide.”
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Headline: No Charges in Fatal Fight Involving Daley’s Nephew: Did Clout Play Role? ‘Of Course Not,’ Police Chief Says
Date: Wednesday, May 26, 2004
Newspaper: Sun-Times
Reporter: Fran Spielman
“No charges will be filed in connection with a fight outside a Division Street bar that led to the death of a Mount Prospect man – not because Mayor Daley’s nephew was involved, but because there is insufficient evidence, Chicago Police Superintendent Phil Cline said Tuesday.
“David Koschman, 21, died May 6 from head injuries suffered 11 days earlier, when he allegedly fell backward and hit his head on the pavement after being punched or pushed to the ground during a sidewalk scrap at 35 W. Division.
“Koschman and three friends, all of whom had recently turned 21, were apparently attempting to hail a cab at 3:15 a.m. after a birthday celebration on Rush Street when they got into a fight with another group of men that included Daley’s nephew, Richard J. Vanecko.
“Vanecko is among those who has been questioned by Chicago Police about the April 25 fight. He is the 29-year-old son of Daley’s sister, Mary Carol Vanecko.
“‘The state’s attorney’s office and the Police Department both agree at this time, there’s no basis for criminal charges based on the witness statements and all of the evidence we have,’ Cline said, after joining Daley at a police graduation at McCormick Place.
“The superintendent said a charge of involuntary manslaughter ‘doesn’t fit, based on everything we’ve looked at so far . . . If new evidence came up, we could change. But, based on all of the evidence we have now – all the witnesses brought in and lineups conducted – there’s no basis for criminal charges.’
“Cline blanched at the suggestion that politics may have played a role in the decision not to file criminal charges.
“‘That’s not true. No. Come on. Come on. No. Of course not,’ the superintendent said.
“Nanci Koschman of Mount Prospect, the victim’s mother, could not be reached for comment.”
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No further stories appeared in either paper – according to the ProQuest newspaper archive database – until the Sun-Times broke its new story on February 28th:
“[N]early seven years after the April 25, 2004, confrontation that left Koschman mortally injured, the Chicago Police Department has decided to reinvestigate the case. Investigators began reinterviewing witnesses after a Chicago Sun-Times reporter filed a request Jan. 4 seeking copies of all police reports in the case, under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act.”
So it was the paper’s FOIA request that led Chicago police to re-open the investigation, which is odd. It’s almost as if the CPD saw the FOIA request and decided that instead of merely fulfilling it, it would, you know, try to get out front of anything the Sun-Times might have been looking at.
“The police, citing what they described as a now-ongoing criminal investigation, agreed to make public only a heavily redacted crime-scene report. It provides little information other than Koschman’s name and the date and location of the confrontation.
“But a Sun-Times investigation has turned up problems with the way the police and prosecutors originally handled their investigation into Koschman’s violent death. Detectives didn’t begin interviewing witnesses until after Koschman died. They didn’t conduct lineups to try to identify who threw the punch until almost a month after it happened. And prosecutors say their files on the case have disappeared.
“Now, in what law-enforcement sources say is an unusual move, the police department has assigned the re-investigation of Koschman’s death to a different detective bureau, transferring it from Area 3 to Area 5.
“The Cook County state’s attorney’s office says it stands by its initial conclusion that no one should be charged.”
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“The police won’t talk about that night. And Vanecko didn’t respond to interview requests, while his three companions all declined to comment.
“But Koschman ‘s friends – including, beside Allen and Copeland, Dave Francis and Shaun Hageline – agreed to talk publicly for the first time about what happened.”
What they said re-opened the story.
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And now, from today’s Sun-Times:
“In an interview, Weis said he was the one who ordered a new set of detectives to re-examine the evidence in January, after the Chicago Sun-Times asked for documents from the 7-year-old case.”
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“Q. Is it common when a Freedom of Information Act request comes in for the police to re-investigate what happened?
“A. Sometimes, it triggers it. You could have a case from seven years ago – all the administration has changed. The chief of detectives is new. We got a new deputy superintendent over the Bureau of Investigative Services. Many regime changes have taken place in seven years. So, unfortunately, in some instances, sometimes new people come in and it’s not on anybody’s radar screen because it’s – at least it’s been thought to – have been resolved.”
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Comments welcome.
Posted on April 6, 2011