Slaying victim found in funeral home ID'd
Anne Warfield
Body identified as missing woman
Slaying victim was hidden above funeral home
By Shia Kapos
Tribune staff reporter
Published November 17, 2002
Three days after Mary Stachowicz disappeared from the Chicago funeral
home where she had been helping a friend, authorities confirmed
Saturday that her slain body had been found hidden in a crawl space of
an upstairs apartment.
An autopsy determined that Stachowicz, 51, died of strangulation,
multiple stab wounds and blunt-force trauma to the chest, according to
the Cook County medical examiner's office. Her body was found Friday
at the F.J. Sikorski Funeral Home--the same day police issued a
community alert about her disappearance.
Chicago police spent much of Saturday interviewing people who may know
anything about her fate, and family members made funeral arrangements
at St. Hyacinth Catholic Church, just across the street from the
funeral home in the 3600 block of West George Street.
Police would not say who, if anyone, lives in the apartment.
The mother of four grown children, Stachowicz attended St. Hyacinth
and sometimes helped out as a translator at the funeral home, whose
owner was a friend, the church's pastor said.
Rev. Michael Osuch said his church's predominantly Polish-born
congregation often goes to Sikorski for funerals because it can
arrange to return bodies to Poland for burial. The process is
complicated, he said, and requires a person who can speak and
understand Polish well in order to communicate with people overseas.
"It can be very difficult," he said.
Stachowicz, of the 3900 block of North Sayre Avenue, not only spoke
English and Polish well but often offered translating assistance,
Osuch said. She had been doing so in recent weeks at the funeral home,
he added.
Calls to the funeral home were not returned Saturday.
Stachowicz's family reported her missing Wednesday, and investigators
found her car, keys, purse and other personal items in the funeral
home that afternoon.
Friends and neighbors who had remained hopeful during the two-day
search expressed sorrow Saturday that the woman they knew for her
gentle manner would die so brutally.
"This is a tragedy for the family and a tragedy for everyone who knew
her," said Dina Cozzi, a neighbor and friend.
Two candles illuminated a white statue of the Virgin Mary in front of
the family home Saturday evening.
"The church was very important to her," Osuch said.
Stachowicz helped make care packages in the church's food pantry and
was a regular volunteer at services. During the church's annual picnic
each summer, she and her husband, Jerry, could be seen volunteering at
a concession booth. "They would be there all four days," Osuch said.
Stachowicz was married in the church more than 20 years ago, saw her
children go through the church's grammar school, and had three sons
who served as altar boys, he said.
A funeral mass will be held for her there on Tuesday.
Copyright © 2002, Chicago Tribune
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chicago/chi-0211170170nov17,0,3121482.story?coll=chi%2Dnewslocalchicago%2Dhed
--
Anne Warfield
indigoace at goodsol period com
http://www.goodsol.com/cats/
crosem
when I hear of a person who was doing only good, who had made substantial
contributions to her community, it just makes me ill.
This sounds like it would have to be an employee of the funeral home or
POSSIBLY someone who came to the funeral home on business with her (for her
to act as translator, etc.)...
"Anne Warfield" <indi...@aolxxx.com> wrote in message
news:3ddb1cf0...@news.earthlink.net...
DedNdogYrs
even safe in places where most of the people are dead.
Dogs & children first.
Lady Taker
"crosem" <cro...@flash.net> wrote in message
news:YjXB9.4111$4%5.808...@newssvr15.news.prodigy.com...
> I have nothing in my heart for the drug dealers who kill each other, but
> when I hear of a person who was doing only good, who had made substantial
> contributions to her community, it just makes me ill.
>
> This sounds like it would have to be an employee of the funeral home or
> POSSIBLY someone who came to the funeral home on business with her (for
her
> to act as translator, etc.)...
A funeral home is a pretty good cover for a serial killer, IMO. Makes
disposing of the bodies a bit easier and all. A little piece in this
casket, a little piece in that casket. Pretty soon no more corpse to be
discovered.
Our local ... er... "organized crime" family used to own a funeral home in
their heyday. It is often related how the caskets weighed much more than
they should have with little ol' Aunt Aggie in them. And there were whispers
of a small little room in the basement with thick, cement walls where new
corpses were made. Now, whether or not any of these stories are true is not
for me to say but I did one time see the inside of the place (long after it
had stopped being a funeral home and was unoccupied for years) and on a
windowsill in an upstairs room was one half of a set of handcuffs -- neatly
sawn (?) open. I've wondered about those cuffs all these years...
Volfie (I guess some folks DO combine business with business and
occasionally with pleasure, eh?)
Anne Warfield
>I have nothing in my heart for the drug dealers who kill each other, but
>when I hear of a person who was doing only good, who had made substantial
>contributions to her community, it just makes me ill.
>
>This sounds like it would have to be an employee of the funeral home or
>POSSIBLY someone who came to the funeral home on business with her (for her
>to act as translator, etc.)...
Very close. Turns out he used to work there, and still lived in the
apartment over the funeral home. He says he snapped when she scolded
him about his sexual orientation. From the Chicago Tribune--
Quarrel preceded slaying, officials say
Suspect's lifestyle allegedly at issue
By Sean D. Hamill and Kevin Lynch
Tribune staff reporters
Published November 18, 2002
A Northwest Side man killed a Chicago woman last week in a brutal
attack that occurred because the woman tried to persuade him to change
his lifestyle, police and prosecutors said Sunday.
Nicholas Gutierrez, 19, who lived in the apartment above a funeral
home at 3630 W. George St. where the body of Mary Stachowicz, 51, was
found in a crawl space, was charged Saturday with first-degree murder,
attempting to conceal a homicide and burglary for allegedly stealing
money from her purse.
Chicago Police Cmdr. Lee Epplen said Gutierrez, who has no criminal
record, said in a videotaped confession that while quarreling with
Stachowicz on Wednesday afternoon in his apartment he was reminded of
debates with his mother.
Gutierrez "said he has issues with his mother and the way Mrs.
Stachowicz talked to him gave him flashbacks to his mother," Epplen
said.
Gutierrez told police he became enraged after Stachowicz questioned
him about his sexual orientation, said Cook County Assistant State's
Atty. Nancy Galassini during a bond hearing Sunday.
"He got upset with her," Galassini said. "The defendant punched and
kicked and stabbed the victim until he was tired. He then placed a
plastic garbage bag over her head and strangled her."
Gutierrez placed Stachowicz's body in a crawl space under the floor of
his apartment and tried to clean up the blood in his apartment,
covering the floorboards with a table and lamp, authorities said.
Gutierrez had lived in the apartment for a year. Stachowicz worked
part-time at the funeral home on the first floor of the building and
they got to know each other over the last four months, Epplen said.
She went to see Gutierrez on Wednesday afternoon after receiving
communion at St. Hyacinth Catholic Church, which is across the street
from the funeral home.
Because of where he lived, Epplen said, police questioned Gutierrez
soon after Stachowicz was reported missing Wednesday.
Gutierrez, who used to work as a janitor at the funeral home, first
told police that the day Stachowicz disappeared, he had a run-in with
a man who threatened him, Epplen said. Gutierrez suggested that the
man might have burglarized his apartment and then had a run-in with
Stachowicz that led to her murder, police said.
When Gutierrez's story didn't check out, police questioned him again,
and he confessed, Epplen said.
During Gutierrez's hearing Sunday, prosecutors asked for no bail,
arguing that they may seek the death penalty.
"This would most likely be a capital case," Galassini told Judge
Nicholas Ford.
Ford set bond at $3 million after Galassini said prosecutors have a
wealth of evidence.
"In addition to his videotaped statement, we have the knife, we have
the defendant's bloody towels, the defendant's bloody clothes and the
body," she said.
Gutierrez is a ward of the Illinois Department of Children and Family
Services, said his court-appointed defense attorney, Stephen Journey.
He earned a general equivalency diploma in Missouri and most recently
worked at a Chicago restaurant, Journey said. He has relatives in the
area, Journey said.
Galassini said Gutierrez told police that he became furious after
Stachowicz asked him, "Why do you [have sex with] boys instead of
girls?"
Friends and family said that it would have been in character for
Stachowicz, who has a lengthy list of volunteer work to reach out to
someone she thought needed help.
"Those of us who knew her immediately hear her soft voice saying
something like, `God wouldn't approve of the way you're living your
life,"' said Mary Coleman, a friend and neighbor. "That's how Mary did
things."
It wouldn't have been out of character for Stachowicz to see
homosexuality as a lifestyle problem, said Alice Kosinski, 43,
Stachowicz's younger sister.
"Because she's so Catholic, there's no room for being gay in the
Catholic church," Kosinski said.
Kosinski said her sister's death is difficult for everyone in her
family to fathom.
"We're not doing that well," she said. "It just doesn't make any
sense, and somehow we're going to have to make our peace with it."
Copyright © 2002, Chicago Tribune
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-0211180202nov18,0,3843298.story?coll=chi%2Dnewslocal%2Dhed
Anne Warfield
wrote:
Funeral homes are inherently creepy, even when they're not tied to
organized crime. So are parking garages, but for different reasons
(in the movies bad things always happen in parking garages).
Lady Taker
"Anne Warfield" <indi...@aolxxx.com> wrote:
> Funeral homes are inherently creepy, even when they're not tied to
> organized crime. So are parking garages, but for different reasons
> (in the movies bad things always happen in parking garages).
>
> --
> Anne Warfield
Yeah, but you always knew it was coming because that creepy music would
start up...
Volfie ( REET! REET! REET! REET!)
Anne Warfield
wrote:
>
I don't need no steenkin' music, man.
Every9man
Chocolic
"Every9man" <ever...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20021119234947...@mb-fi.aol.com...
> http://www.goodsol.com/cats/
>
What cute babies. Are they all yours?
Chocolic
Every9man
Would that they were!
No, that's Anne Warfield's web site.
I think she's posting as indigoace.
Barbara
Nancy Rudins
ever...@aol.com (Every9man) writes:
>http://www.goodsol.com/cats/
>
>
I love those photos! Are they your cats?
As soon as I get the camera, my cats all stop being cute
and just stare at me. I wish I could get some photos
like that!
Kind regards,
Nancy
--
Nancy Rudins nru...@ncsa.uiuc.edu
http://www.ncsa.uiuc.edu/People/nrudins/
Now they know how many holes it takes to fill the Albert Hall.
Anne Warfield
Nancy Rudins
Those are your cats, Anne? They sure are cute. How
do you manage to get photos while they're still doing
something cute?
Every9man
>Date: Wed, Nov 20, 2002 12:41 PM
>In article <3ddfb22f...@news.earthlink.net>,
> indi...@aolxxx.com (Anne Warfield) writes:
>>On 20 Nov 2002 04:49:47 GMT, ever...@aol.com (Every9man) wrote:
>>
>>>http://www.goodsol.com/cats/
>>
>>Thanks, Barbara! :)
>>
>>--
>>Anne Warfield
>>indigoace at goodsol period com
>>http://www.goodsol.com/cats/
>
>Those are your cats, Anne? They sure are cute. How
>do you manage to get photos while they're still doing
>something cute?
>
>Kind regards,
>Nancy
>
Anne was probably a cat in former life, she seems to have such an unusual
affinity for them and they for her.
b
Anne Warfield
Rudins) wrote:
>In article <3ddfb22f...@news.earthlink.net>,
> indi...@aolxxx.com (Anne Warfield) writes:
>>On 20 Nov 2002 04:49:47 GMT, ever...@aol.com (Every9man) wrote:
>>
>>>http://www.goodsol.com/cats/
>>
>>Thanks, Barbara! :)
>>
>>--
>>Anne Warfield
>>indigoace at goodsol period com
>>http://www.goodsol.com/cats/
>
>Those are your cats, Anne? They sure are cute. How
>do you manage to get photos while they're still doing
>something cute?
>
>Kind regards,
>Nancy
Actually, all kudos for the cute pictures should be directed to
Tom--he's the picture taker, and the wielder of the digital camera.
:) He hasn't taken any lately because the camera's on the fritz,
alas.
I'm so glad you like them! :)
Anne Warfield
>Anne was probably a cat in former life, she seems to have such an unusual
>affinity for them and they for her.
>
>b
Well, when you work at home as Tom & I do and you're around them all
the time, you either live together in harmony or else. :)
Nancy Rudins
indi...@aolxxx.com (Anne Warfield) writes:
>On Wed, 20 Nov 2002 17:41:30 GMT, nru...@kitsch.ncsa.uiuc.edu (Nancy
>Rudins) wrote:
>
>>In article <3ddfb22f...@news.earthlink.net>,
>> indi...@aolxxx.com (Anne Warfield) writes:
>>>On 20 Nov 2002 04:49:47 GMT, ever...@aol.com (Every9man) wrote:
>>>
>>>>http://www.goodsol.com/cats/
>>>
>>>Thanks, Barbara! :)
>>>
>>>--
>>>Anne Warfield
>>>indigoace at goodsol period com
>>>http://www.goodsol.com/cats/
>>
>>Those are your cats, Anne? They sure are cute. How
>>do you manage to get photos while they're still doing
>>something cute?
>>
>>Kind regards,
>>Nancy
>
>Actually, all kudos for the cute pictures should be directed to
>Tom--he's the picture taker, and the wielder of the digital camera.
>:) He hasn't taken any lately because the camera's on the fritz,
>alas.
>
>I'm so glad you like them! :)
>
I love cats. Mine are finally coming around to accepting
the new dog in their lives. I got a Chihuahua in April.
The cats were extremely skeptical for months.
Anne Warfield
Rudins) wrote:
>I love cats. Mine are finally coming around to accepting
>the new dog in their lives. I got a Chihuahua in April.
>The cats were extremely skeptical for months.
Cats are skeptical creatures. Ours are highly skeptical that their
annual visit to the vet is for their own good.
Nancy Rudins
indi...@aolxxx.com (Anne Warfield) writes:
>On Thu, 21 Nov 2002 15:11:11 GMT, nru...@kitsch.ncsa.uiuc.edu (Nancy
>Rudins) wrote:
>
>>I love cats. Mine are finally coming around to accepting
>>the new dog in their lives. I got a Chihuahua in April.
>>The cats were extremely skeptical for months.
>
>Cats are skeptical creatures. Ours are highly skeptical that their
>annual visit to the vet is for their own good.
>
>--
I tell them they're going to see TED (The Evil Doctor).
They meow at the top of their lungs all the way over,
but they're pretty subdued on the trip home.
Anne Warfield
Rudins) wrote:
>In article <3ddcfb78...@news.earthlink.net>,
> indi...@aolxxx.com (Anne Warfield) writes:
>>On Thu, 21 Nov 2002 15:11:11 GMT, nru...@kitsch.ncsa.uiuc.edu (Nancy
>>Rudins) wrote:
>>
>>>I love cats. Mine are finally coming around to accepting
>>>the new dog in their lives. I got a Chihuahua in April.
>>>The cats were extremely skeptical for months.
>>
>>Cats are skeptical creatures. Ours are highly skeptical that their
>>annual visit to the vet is for their own good.
>>
>
>I tell them they're going to see TED (The Evil Doctor).
>They meow at the top of their lungs all the way over,
>but they're pretty subdued on the trip home.
Last time, they all hissed at *each other* when they got home. As if
the whole thing was the other cats' fault.
Nancy Rudins
indi...@aolxxx.com (Anne Warfield) writes:
>On Thu, 21 Nov 2002 15:35:15 GMT, nru...@kitsch.ncsa.uiuc.edu (Nancy
>Rudins) wrote:
>
>>In article <3ddcfb78...@news.earthlink.net>,
>> indi...@aolxxx.com (Anne Warfield) writes:
>>>On Thu, 21 Nov 2002 15:11:11 GMT, nru...@kitsch.ncsa.uiuc.edu (Nancy
>>>Rudins) wrote:
>>>
>>>>I love cats. Mine are finally coming around to accepting
>>>>the new dog in their lives. I got a Chihuahua in April.
>>>>The cats were extremely skeptical for months.
>>>
>>>Cats are skeptical creatures. Ours are highly skeptical that their
>>>annual visit to the vet is for their own good.
>>>
>>
>>I tell them they're going to see TED (The Evil Doctor).
>>They meow at the top of their lungs all the way over,
>>but they're pretty subdued on the trip home.
>
>Last time, they all hissed at *each other* when they got home. As if
>the whole thing was the other cats' fault.
>
>--
LOL! If I take just one of my cats to the vet, when I get home,
the other two cats hiss at the one who went. There must be a
"vet" smell that only cats pick up.