IL Hair, fingerprints from Tinley Park Lane Bryant slaying scene still being analyzed
Indigo Ace
Hair, fingerprints from Tinley Park Lane Bryant slaying scene still
being analyzed
Suspect in women's deaths may have committed crimes before, police say
By Matthew Walberg | Tribune reporter
11:04 PM CDT, May 15, 2008
Police and the state crime lab are still analyzing hair and
fingerprint samples recovered from the Lane Bryant store where five
women were slain and a sixth was wounded in February, officials said
Thursday.
"Keep in mind, this is a store where there were hundreds of customers
and where there were dozens of employees who worked there," Tinley
Park Police Cmdr. Phil Valois said. "There's going to be fingerprints;
there's going to be hair. We've collected all that. But we don't know
if we've got the suspect's fingerprints."
Police believe the man was not wearing gloves, and so far the Illinois
State Police crime lab has been able to eliminate some fingerprints.
But Valois said he did not know how many were eliminated or how many
remained.
"It's a slow process," he said. "It's not like 'CSI.' It doesn't
happen that quickly."
Still, he said Thursday at a news conference, investigators believe
it's only a matter of time before they catch the killer, who fled just
before police arrived. They suspect he may have committed previous
crimes because of the coldblooded way he shot the victims, Valois
said.
"This person is an animal—he needs to be taken off the street," he
said. "These ladies could have been your mother, your sister, your
wife. It's just, you know, it's terrible, and we want to do everything
we can to catch this guy."
Shortly after 10 a.m. Feb. 2, the man entered the store near 191st and
Harlem Avenue posing as a delivery man. After chatting briefly with
four women, he announced a holdup and forced them to a backroom, where
he bound them with duct tape, placed them face down on the floor and
covered their heads with clothing. Two more women entered the store
and were subdued like the others.
At 10:44 a.m., store manager Rhoda McFarland, 42, of Joliet was able
to free herself and call 911 from her cell phone while the gunman was
in the front of the store.
When he returned and noticed McFarland had called police, he opened
fire, killing her and four other women: Jennifer L. Bishop, 34, of
South Bend, Ind.; Sarah Szafranski, 22, of Oak Forest; Connie
Woolfolk, 37, of Flossmoor; and Carrie Hudek Chiuso, 33, of Frankfort.
The 33-year-old survivor was shot in the neck but has recovered and is
working with police.
"She's doing OK," Valois said. "Not every day is a good day, but she
wants to be a good witness for us."
The gunman was described as 25 to 35, African-American, 5-foot-9 to 6
feet tall with a husky build and his hair in thick, puffy cornrows
with a small braid sporting several green beads along the right side
of his face. Anyone with information is asked to call the police hot
line at 708-444-5394.
mwalberg @tribune.com
Copyright © 2008, Chicago Tribune
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-lane_bryant_16may16,0,782025.story
--
Anne, indigoace at aol period com
Jewelry: http://www.prettygoodjewelry.com
Cats: http://www.goodsol.com/cats/
Sara Brown
> said. "These ladies could have been your mother, your sister, your
> wife. It's just, you know, it's terrible, and we want to do everything
> we can to catch this guy."
It`s a shame Charming Shoppes Inc doesn`t feel the same way