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CHICAGO SUN-TIMES TUESDAY, MARCH 27, 2012

NEWS

Vanecko fighting Koschmans mom

BY TIM NOVAK AND CHRIS FUSCO
Staff Reporters tnovak@suntimes.com

Tired of sitting on the sidelines, a nephew of for mer Mayor Richard M. Daley is fighting a mothers request for a special prosecutor to reinvestigate the death of David Koschman, who died after a punch police say the nephew threw. Lawyers for Richard J. R.J. Vanecko filed papers Monday asking to intervene in the case because Nanci Koschmans lawyers sug gested in a court filing last week that Vanecko may have confessed to striking the Mount Prospect man dur ing a drunken confrontation in the Rush Street area on April 25, 2004. Minutes after Koschmans four friends were unable to identify Vanecko in a lineup, the friends say an uniden tified detective told them they knew who had punched Koschman, according to sworn statements they gave to the Chicago inspector generals office. One witness recalled being told that man was bawling his eyes out. . . . He didnt mean for one punch to lead to all this. Vaneckos attorneys say he never confessed and didnt talk to the police or a pros ecutor who was present at the lineup on May 20, 2004. The allegation of a con fession is a complete and ut ter fabrication wholly devoid of credibility or grounding in reality, Vaneckos attorneys, Terence P. Gillespie and Marc W. Martin, wrote in three separate court filings. I can unequivocally state that Mr. Vanecko was not in a room bawling his eyes out, did not apologize to detec

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Richard J. R.J. Vanecko

tives, did not confess or make any substantive state ments, admissions or implied admissions to law enforce ment personnel, Gillespie said in an affidavit. Attorney Locke Bow man, representing Nanci Koschman, responded, We stand by the accuracy of ev ery statement in our memo randum. Cook County Judge Mi chael P. Toomin is set to hear oral arguments Thursday in Nanci Koschmans request that a special prosecutor be appointed to reinvesti gate the case and determine whether the police or the Cook County states attor neys office are guilty of of ficial misconduct for fail ing to charge Vanecko, who ran away after throwing the punch that led to Koschmans death 11 days later. States Attorney Anita Al varez is fighting the Kosch man request, arguing that theres no reason her office cannot continue an ongoing reinvestigation along with the citys inspector general. Vaneckos attorneys are asking the judge to allow them to fight the Koschman petition. While Mr. Vanecko has remained on the sidelines, that stance must change, they wrote. A court order appointing a special pros

David Koschman
ecutor . . . would render Mr. Vanecko the subject of an extraordinary grand jury investigation conducted by private counsel. The petition for appoint ment of a special prosecutor should be denied. Koschmans death was list ed as an unsolved homicide until early last year, when a Chicago SunTimes inquiry prompted the police to take another look at the case. They closed the case on March 1, 2011, determining that Van ecko punched Koschman but did so in selfdefense without seeking criminal charges from Alvarez. Vaneckos attorneys in court papers accused the SunTimes of being on a witch hunt and blasted the newspaper for last Thurs days frontpage headline: Did R.J. Confess? If that newspaper both ered to pick up the phone and call me . . . I would have told them theyre nuts. Noth ing like that ever came close to happening, Gillespie told WGNTV Channel 9. The SunTimes called Gil lespies office and emailed him and his partner last Wednesday. There was no answer at the law office, and the lawyers didnt respond to the email. They did not respond to the SunTimes requests on Monday, either.

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