brown's chicken massacre
for those of you who lived in a hole or just not in the midwest, a horrible thing happened on January 8, 1993. 7 people were killed in a fast-food restaurant in palatine, IL. shot and shoved into the freezers.
at that time in 1993, i was in my freshman year in college. i don't remember how i heard about it, either my mom called or i saw it on TV or read about it in the tribune, which i got sent to my dorm room. i had just come back from winter break. i was very familiar with palatine. i grew up in hoffman estates, mere miles away from palatine. my high school was in palatine. but what really hit close to home was that i very familiar with that particular fast-food restaurant. my high school boyfriend and all of his friends had been employed there mere months before. i knew that management had changed hands and that no one i knew worked there anymore, but i had stood in that back area. i knew that the side door was propped open at close so the guys could take out the trash without having to unlock the door every time. i knew that me and all of our friends used to park in the parking lot by that door and harass the workers until they were done. i knew their closing routine.
someone else did, too, evidently. someone had come in at 9:00pm, closing time, and killed all the people who were working. not being in the town at the time, i didn't know what the atmosphere was like. i imagine a lot of people were scared. i knew people who knew the people who were killed. my ex-boyfriend was really freaked out. how close could that have come to be him and his friends?
in may of 2002, they had a break in the case. i remember standing in front of the TV, brushing my teeth in my chicago apartment, when they mention who had been arrested. and they were people i had known in high school. one of them had given me his high school picture, like you used to do. he had been friends with my ex. and now he was going to cook county jail for capital murder.
so, after 5 years of rotting in the pokey, the jury selection for juan's trial started on march 28. i'm reading up on the details of the case and i still can't believe that he had anything to do with it. it's still so shocking, 14 years after the fact.
at that time in 1993, i was in my freshman year in college. i don't remember how i heard about it, either my mom called or i saw it on TV or read about it in the tribune, which i got sent to my dorm room. i had just come back from winter break. i was very familiar with palatine. i grew up in hoffman estates, mere miles away from palatine. my high school was in palatine. but what really hit close to home was that i very familiar with that particular fast-food restaurant. my high school boyfriend and all of his friends had been employed there mere months before. i knew that management had changed hands and that no one i knew worked there anymore, but i had stood in that back area. i knew that the side door was propped open at close so the guys could take out the trash without having to unlock the door every time. i knew that me and all of our friends used to park in the parking lot by that door and harass the workers until they were done. i knew their closing routine.
someone else did, too, evidently. someone had come in at 9:00pm, closing time, and killed all the people who were working. not being in the town at the time, i didn't know what the atmosphere was like. i imagine a lot of people were scared. i knew people who knew the people who were killed. my ex-boyfriend was really freaked out. how close could that have come to be him and his friends?
in may of 2002, they had a break in the case. i remember standing in front of the TV, brushing my teeth in my chicago apartment, when they mention who had been arrested. and they were people i had known in high school. one of them had given me his high school picture, like you used to do. he had been friends with my ex. and now he was going to cook county jail for capital murder.
so, after 5 years of rotting in the pokey, the jury selection for juan's trial started on march 28. i'm reading up on the details of the case and i still can't believe that he had anything to do with it. it's still so shocking, 14 years after the fact.
posted by mikraas at 8:02 AM
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