New book revisits Brown's Chicken massacre through victims’ stories, 32 years later
New book revisits Brown's Chicken massacre through victims? stories, 32 years later
It is one of the most brutal and infamous crimes in the history of the Chicago area. And now it's the subject of a new true-crime book.
CHICAGO - It is one of the most brutal and infamous crimes in the history of the Chicago area. And now it's the subject of a new true-crime book.
What we know:
The Brown's Chicken massacre in northwest suburban Palatine is getting a fresh telling after 32 years, much of it from the perspective of the victim's families.
"Everyone seems to have a story of this case. Of where they were or a connection to it in some way," said attorney and author Patrick Wohl, who was a child living in northwest suburban Park Ridge when the murders occurred in January 1993.
The owners of the Brown's Chicken restaurant and five employees were shot to death, their bodies found in a freezer in the back of the store, in what at the time was believed to be a botched robbery. It was a mass murder that jolted Chicago and the nation.
Now, decades later, Wohl has written a new true-crime book about the murders titled "Something Big." The title comes from what one of the killers said he and his buddy were planning.
Full interview: Author Patrick Wohl talks new book on Brown's Chicken massacre
It is one of the most brutal and infamous crimes in the history of the Chicago area. And now it's the subject of a new true-crime book.
What they're saying:
Wohl said the story has been explored before in print and podcasts. But he said the narrative has always been lacking the human element.
"What I've found in the past is often this story has been told by people who have no connection to Chicago. They're getting facts wrong. And most importantly they never shared the stories of the people this actually impacted," he said.
Wohl spoke to a number of victim's families and decided to make their stories a big part of the book.
"I try to tell their stories in the first third of the book in a more humane way than I think has been done in the past. Focusing on that rather than the gore of the crime itself," Wohl said.
At the time, frustration mounted as the leads went cold. And years went by without any breaks in the case.
But Wohl said his research leads him to believe that criticism of the Palatine Police Department at the time was unwarranted.
"That this case was botched. That the Palatine police messed it up, and they weren't equipped to handle it. And I think with the clarity of hindsight and 30 years having passed, this is not true," he said.
Wohl said Palatine police quickly formed a large task force incorporating federal agencies and other police departments, but "ultimately no police department was going to solve this until someone came forward, in the way it was eventually solved."
The book also focuses on a key piece of evidence; a chicken bone found in the dining room trash that was stashed for years in a freezer by an evidence tech.
"In 1993, the technology didn't exist because of the very small sample of saliva that was there," said Wohl. "Fast forward a couple years later in 1998, they were able to extract the DNA sample. But they needed a match. They didn't have a match at that point," Wohl said.
That didn't come until 2002, when a former girlfriend of one of the suspects came forward and implicated James Degorski and Juan Luna, a former Brown's employee whose DNA matched the saliva found on the chicken bone.
"What people read in the book is (former Degorski girlfriend) Anne Lockett, many hoped she had come forward earlier. But I think there was genuine fear from her. There were threats made against her life by Jim Degorski and Juan Luna. Jim Degorski had a violent past. And so, I think people will see there was genuine fear for her life in that. And ultimately she did the right thing," Wohl said.
An enduring mystery of the case involves the motive for the crime, which was assumed to be robbery. But Wohl said he believes Degorski's promise to friends of doing "something big" indicates the two were looking to commit a thrill killing.
"That's one of the unique things about this case is they committed this horrible, horrible act. And then they lived pretty normal lives, which is unique for someone who commits a mass murder like this," Wohl said.
Today, both Degorski and Luna continue to serve life sentences in an Illinois maximum security prison.
What you can do:
"Something Big" is available for sale at Amazon and most local bookstores.