Chicago Sun-Times

Koschman special prosecutor bills come to $1 million

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 10:43:43 -0500

More than $1 million — that’s the final tally for the special prosecutor’s investigation that led to a manslaughter charge against former Mayor Richard M. Daley’s nephew Richard J. “R.J.” Vanecko after the Chicago Police Department and Cook County state’s attorney’s office twice declined to charge him in the 2004 death of David Koschman.

‘Lost’ files in Daley nephew case ‘removed,’ then mysteriously returned

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 06:04:00 -0500

THE WATCHDOGS: Key documents from a manslaughter case involving a nephew of former Mayor Richard M. Daley that vanished from the Chicago Police Department and then mysteriously reappeared weren’t lost or misplaced — they were “removed” without authorization, apparently by someone in the department. That’s according to a newly obtained report made by the police lieutenant who said he found the missing records.

Clear up cover-up in Koschman case

Wed, 01 May 2013 14:50:35 -0500

Sunday marks the ninth Easter for Nanci Koschman. Nine since her only child, 21-year-old David, died from a lone punch thrown at him on Division Street in April of 2004. Mrs. Koschman now waits for Special Prosecutor Dan Webb to conclude his probe of how Chicago Police and the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office conducted this “heater” case. She waits for the involuntary manslaughter trial of Richard “R.J.” Vanecko, the nephew and grandson of two mayors named Daley, whom Webb last December charged in David’s death. But as she waits, she feels a quiet fury about why it’s taken nine …

Vanecko judge has link to old Daley Machine

Fri, 12 Apr 2013 06:03:19 -0500

When the high-profile manslaughter case against Richard J. “R.J.” Vanecko, a nephew of former Mayor Richard M. Daley, was shifted to a McHenry County judge, the judge made one thing clear. “I do not know anyone involved,” Judge Maureen P. McIntyre said on Jan. 18. “My family does not know anyone involved.” But McIntyre does have family connections to the Democratic Party in Chicago going back to the time it was run by the late Mayor Richard J. Daley, a Chicago Sun-Times investigation has found.

Vanecko judge’s live-in ex-husband owed $750,000 to clients, IRS

Tue, 19 Mar 2013 06:11:43 -0500

THE WATCHDOGS: The judge presiding over the involuntary manslaughter case of Richard J. “R.J.” Vanecko averted financial disaster in 2006 when she divorced her husband, a since-disbarred attorney who owed $750,000 in judgments to clients and the IRS, according to interviews and records obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times. Judge Maureen P. McIntyre got most of the couple’s assets, including their Barrington Hills home, though her ex-husband, Raymond X. Henehan, continued to live with her, records show.

After 5,400 hours on Daley nephew probe, special prosecutor’s team will work for free

Sat, 02 Mar 2013 12:06:15 -0500

Cook County taxpayers will no longer be on the hook for the mounting cost of special prosecutor Dan K. Webb’s investigation into why the Chicago Police Department and Cook County prosecutors didn’t charge Richard J. “R.J.” Vanecko, a nephew of former Mayor Richard M. Daley, in the death of David Koschman in 2004.

Former Mayor Daley’s police detail under scrutiny in Koschman death

Fri, 22 Feb 2013 06:10:19 -0500

For the 22 years he was mayor, Richard M. Daley relied upon a select group of police officers to ensure his safety and that of his family. The security detail’s members routinely traveled with Daley and his family. They drove his kids to school. They ran errands for the family. Now, members of the police security detail that served Daley are being questioned by Dan K. Webb, the special prosecutor appointed to reinvestigate the 2004 death of David Koschman and also to determine whether criminal charges should be filed regarding the handling of the Koschman case by police and prosecutors.

New Vanecko judge will stay on case, says, ‘I do not know anyone involved’

Wed, 20 Feb 2013 06:10:51 -0500

The McHenry County judge chosen earlier this month to preside over the involuntary-manslaughter case of Richard J. “R.J.” Vanecko, a nephew of former Mayor Richard M. Daley, held her first hearing in the case on Friday and wanted to make one thing clear. “I do not know anyone involved,” McHenry County Circuit Judge Maureen P. McIntyre said. A previous judge had stepped aside, prompting the Illinois Supreme Court to appoint someone from outside Cook County.

McHenry County judge selected to preside over Vanecko case

Wed, 06 Feb 2013 06:09:30 -0500

A McHenry County judge who handles a wide variety of juvenile matters will preside over the involuntary-manslaughter case of Richard J. “R.J.” Vanecko, the nephew of former Mayor Richard M. Daley, accused in the death of David Koschman on Chicago’s Near North Side.

McHenry chief judge: I’ll pick ‘best suited’ jurist for Vanecko case

Wed, 23 Jan 2013 06:07:33 -0500

A judge from McHenry County will be brought in to Cook County to preside over the involuntary-manslaughter prosecution of Richard J. “R.J.” Vanecko, a nephew of former Mayor Richard M. Daley. The Illinois Supreme Court ordered the move Friday, saying “the public necessity so requires” it.

Daley nephew case needs outsider on bench: chief judge

Sat, 19 Jan 2013 06:11:12 -0500

The involuntary manslaughter prosecution of Richard J. “R.J.” Vanecko, a nephew of former Mayor Richard M. Daley, was put on hold Monday when Cook County’s chief judge asked the Illinois Supreme Court to assign a judge from outside Cook County to preside over the politically explosive case.

Mystery in Daley nephew case: Why did police open 2nd case file?

Fri, 18 Jan 2013 06:07:00 -0500

THE WATCHDOGS: There’s a mystery in the David Koschman case that the Chicago Police Department has never explained: Why did detectives open what they labeled a “non-criminal” investigation into Koschman’s death on the same day they reclassified what originally was a battery case as a homicide? Law enforcement sources say it’s unusual for the police department to open two separate files on the same case.

Vanecko judge with ties to Daley, Devine: ‘I can be fair, impartial’

Sat, 12 Jan 2013 06:10:03 -0500

The involuntary manslaughter case of Richard J. “R.J.” Vanecko, a nephew of former Mayor Richard M. Daley, was assigned Monday to a judge who worked in the Cook County state’s attorney’s office for Daley and his successor, Richard Devine, whose handling of the David Koschman case remains under investigation by a special prosecutor. Still Judge Arthur F. Hill Jr. declined to step aside, saying he “believes I can be fair and impartial.”

Video surfaces in Vanecko probe showing Koschman before punch

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 10:39:44 -0500

Security surveillance video has turned up showing David Koschman a few hours before his drunken 2004 encounter with Richard J. “R.J.” Vanecko, the nephew of then-Mayor Richard M. Daley who’s charged with killing the 21-year-old Mount Prospect man, sources told the Chicago Sun-Times.

Nephew accused in Koschman case basically ‘good kid’: Bill Daley

Sun, 06 Jan 2013 10:01:50 -0500

The death of David Koschman was “a tragedy all the way around,” but Richard J. “R.J.” Vanecko is “basically a good kid,” his uncle William Daley said Tuesday in the first public comments from anyone in the Daley family since Vanecko’s indictment Monday on an involuntary manslaughter charge.

Daley nephew charged with involuntary manslaughter in Koschman death

Sat, 05 Jan 2013 06:03:41 -0500

Richard J. “R.J.” Vanecko — a grandson of the late Mayor Richard J. Daley and nephew of former Mayor Richard M. Daley — has been indicted on a charge of involuntary manslaughter, accused of throwing the punch that led to the 2004 death of 21-year-old David Koschman of Mount Prospect.

After punch, Vanecko moved to Hollywood

Sat, 05 Jan 2013 06:04:08 -0500

Not so long ago, Richard J. “R.J.” Vanecko worked for a Chicago investment company that financed Hollywood movies starring Robert DeNiro and Cameron Diaz. He went to parties at the Sundance Film Festival. He tried his hand at television. Now, the nephew of former Mayor Richard M. Daley faces an even more high-profile role: as a defendant in the 2004 death of David Koschman.

Sun-Times stories brought Koschman case to light

Sat, 05 Jan 2013 06:10:31 -0500

The indictment returned Monday against Richard J. “R.J.” Vanecko resulted from a special prosecutor’s investigation prompted by dozens of news stories published by the Chicago Sun-Times.