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July 31, 2003

Police Detectives and Residents Try to Make sense of the Murder Scene.  10:45 pm (July 31, 2003) at 936 Washington Blvd.

August 3, 2003  Updated Information #3


Fox News, the last to leave the Crime scene, goes live
and then packs up.
Oak Park Journal photo

The victim, Ms. Catherine McAvinchey was an
executive at Neiman Marcus in downtown Chicago.
The building where she lived has people living there that are not property owners, and this has been the
case for years now.  Crime does have a tendency to
be somewhat higher where buildings are not all owner occupied.  If a building is owner occupied you can often get better loan rates on your purchase, but the
decision to be owner occupied or not is up to the building's owners and their majority vote.  The building looks quiet now, the police have gone in their numbers.  Earlier in the afternoon of August 1,
it was interesting to see the amount of disconnect that some of the residents had.  Many did not know the
victim and the victim did not attend a meeting a week
or two back that was held to discuss security issues with the building.  It is this reporters view that the
perpetrator was not a random burglar.  We believe that it was a young male who was recently released from a jail, who hates women, has no value for human life, and will be caught by our police.


This the rear door that led to the woman's condo.
Oak Park Journal photo
The photo above shows the door through which the killer
might have entered the rear of the building and then forced his way into the condo, where he confronted the owner and victim.
While the Fox News crew was packing up to leave I was approached by a middle aged man who said that he heard about the murder on the news and that he was wondering who it was.
I told him the woman's name and age and her address, but that was all I knew at the time.  I was not sure of the apartment either at this point.  Three different residents came home to the building and he asked them too.  They all seemed to recognize the man but did not wish to engage him in conversation.  He was driving a late model white Ford Escort GT and told me that he had issues with the building and residents.  He said that he did live in the basement a time ago and that he spent over $200 a month just trying to keep his basement apartment warm.  He also told me that he had a bike stolen from the building and he had to buy a new one.  He told me that he was out of town when the killing happened and that the building was very easy to get into.  He lived on the West side of building in the basement and he showed me how cheap the locks were and how they could stick open if not closed by pushing on them.  He also showed me how his key could open all the other doors in the rear of the building.  Did he have a pass key?  Do all the other keys open all the doors?  Why would someone know that their key opened all the doors?  He showed me how the door can stick open (on the photo above the door is opened about a half on an inch)
and someone could get in.  They could also get in if they had a key like his or a copy of a key like his.  Then he told me again the he wasn't around when the killing took place and that he doesn't live in the building anymore, but he still has some items in the building.  He told me that he lives in Chicago and comes to get things from time to time.  When I got back home I called the Oak Park Detective Bureau and relayed the above information to a Detective with some additional items.  I spoke later, on the next day with some police that remember a man of the same description in the middle of the day walking around the area.
 

This is a photo of the man's key.  How many more
are out there? 
Oak Park Journal photo
The photo above shows the key that we saw open all the doors.
How many keys are there like this one out there?  How many people have them that no longer live in the building?  Where does this man live in the city?  Who does he live with?  Where does he leave his keys when he's out of town?  Lots of questions
remain.  I hope that the next news on this item comes from the
police when an arrest is made.

It has since been learned that the man with the master key to
all the rear doors had been spoken to and cleared of any
involvement in the case.  (Sept 1, 2003)

August 1, 2003 Updated Information #2
 

Residents are asked to provide proof of address
before being admitted to the still secure crime
scene.
Oak Park Journal photo
The last murder that occurred in Oak Park happened in May of last year (2002) and on Austin Avenue.  It was considered be a gang related event stemming from inside the Austin community.  No one likes a murder anywhere and in your town, in your neighborhood, and to innocent people, makes it
all the worse. 
 

Oak Park Journal photos


This afternoon before tornado warnings were radioed to police, the streets surrounding the crime scene of  yesterday's  murder were all but filled with television microwave trucks.  When the storms arrived they were prohibited from raising their booms used in transmission because of their acting light lightening rods for the storm.  We have since learned that the
victim had her throat slashed with a kitchen knife taken from her condo and that the slashing was so
violent that the knife had passed through her throat and cut deep enough into her neck to deposit spinal fluid on the floor.  It is not believed that much if
anything was taken from her condo when the killer
fled.  Given the violence and strength of this killer
it is believed that the killer was recently released 
from jail and did not want anyone to witness his 
acts and help put him back in jail.  If this killer had been in jail he might also have taken precautions 
with his fingerprints.  Some feel that the police are looking carefully at all leads and very carefully at strong, violent young men who have recently been paroled.


August 1, 2003 Updated Information

It has been reported that the victim, Ms. Catherine McAvinchey had walked in on a burglary in her 
home at 936 Washington Blvd.  Police sources have confidence in finding the murder, due to the potential wealth of information taken from the crime scene.  This is believed to have been the second condo that was burgled yesterday, the first had no one home at the time.  An autopsy was to be performed this morning to determine the cause of death, but this procedure is done in all homicide cases-even if the
cause of death is readily apparent. 

The residents had been concerned about security in just the past week or so when they met with local police to discuss their concerns.  Some residents had
inquired about dead bolt locks, noting that their current locks stick from time to time.

Police sources have told us that this is a case that 
they feel strongly will be solved.  The victims rear door had been forced open to gain entry and this is the most common means of entry for home burglaries.  Residents are still being questioned at 
this time.


First Release Story from the Oak Park Journal

A little after 4:20 pm a call came into the Oak Park Police department which had been placed by a neighbor of Ms. Catherine McAvinchey.  It is reported, but not confirmed by police sources that there may have been a burglary at 936 Washington Blvd. (Washington and Clinton) in Oak Park.

The building used to be apartments, but had been converted to condos many years ago.  The building is also right across the street from the new Gwendolyn Brooks Middle School.  Forest Park Police and Chicago police arrived on the scene in addition to Oak Park Police.  Channel 5 and Channel 7 had news crews out with cameras in the rain, but little was officially known until 
a police press release came a little after 11:00 p.m. on the evening of the call, Thursday.  Police began to remove
some of the taped barriers shortly before 11:00 p.m, though evidence technicians were still present even after half of the police tape had been removed. 
 


An Oak Park Patrol Officer keeps the entrance secure.
Oak Park Journal photo
It was raining and many detectives were about gathering
evidence and keeping the scene secure with the help of patrol officers. So much of the building had been sealed that it appeared to many residents that not only had something bad happened, but some very bad had occurred.


The Entire 300 Block of Clinton had been closed since the
First Police arrived on the Crime Scene.  This photo was taken
a little before 11:00 p.m.
Oak Park Journal photo

It looked as though the entire building was under investigation and many cars were diverted as the 300 block of Clinton was sealed to all but emergency and police vehicles.
 


Almost the Entire Building was sealed while evidence was gathered.
Oak Park Journal photo


Oak Park Journal photo


Some of the tape is removed and the rain soon tapers off.
Oak Park Journal photo


Detectives return to the Police Station for their
shift change, and some remain on the scene.
Oak Park Journal photo

More to come;


Below is the Police Information

07.31.03

Police Investigating Apparent Homicide

        Oak Park Police officers answering a neighbor's call about suspicious circumstances in a Washington Boulevard condominium building Thursday afternoon discovered the body of 44-year-old Catherine McAvinchey, the apparent victim of a homicide.

        Officers discovered the body of McAvinchey in the living room of her condominium at 936 Washington. Police arrived on the scene within minutes of the 9-1-1 call received at 4:21 p.m.

        Police are declining to comment on the circumstances surrounding the apparent  homicide, so as not to comprise the investigation.

        The body was transported to the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office where an autopsy is expected to be performed Friday morning.

        "At this early stage of the investigation, we believe it would not be appropriate to discuss any of our findings so far," said Oak Park Police Chief Rick C. Tanksley. "As the investigation progresses, and if appropriate, we will provide the community with more details related to the circumstances of this tragic incident."