 |
| This undated photo released by the Palatine (Ill.) Police Department on Oct. 5, 2009, shows James Degorski Degorski, 37, was convicted in the 1993 slayings of seven people at a suburban Chicago restaurant. (AP Photo/Palatine Police Department) |
CHICAGO (AP) — A former handyman serving life in prison for the 1993 murder of seven people at a suburban Chicago restaurant has been awarded nearly a half-million dollars in a civil lawsuit in which he alleged a jail guard punched him in the face.
Victims' relatives Sunday criticized jurors' decision for James Degorski, who, with an accomplice, shot and stabbed two restaurant owners and five workers at Brown's Chicken and Pasta during a botched robbery. Their bodies were found in a walk-in cooler and freezer.
Degorski, now 41, accused a Cook County Jail guard of punching him and breaking his cheekbone and eye socket in 2002 — just after Degorski's arrest in what had been one of the most notorious, unsolved murder cases in Illinois history. "If broken bones are worth a half-million, then how much are seven lives worth? This just doesn't feel right," said Ann Ehlenfeldt, a sister of Richard Ehlenfeldt, one of the owners who was killed.
But Degorski's attorney, Jennifer Bonjean, hailed the jury's decision, which came Friday after a three-day trial. more
No comments:
Post a Comment