Bad Cop, Bad Cop
By Margaret Lyons in News on Sep 26, 2007 9:40PM
Officer Jerome Finnigan was arrested today for planning a murder for hire. He wanted to kill another former Chicago police officer who might have testified against him. Finnigan is already facing charges of kidnapping and robbery, and he's a defendant in a civil suit as well, stemming from when he ... kidnapped and robbed Vance Estes. Estes spent 8 months in jail on bogus charges, and now he's suing.
Finnigan allegedly began planning the contract killing in July. He and another officer — who flipped, eventually cooperating with the noncorrupt authorities — planned on paying a street gang member $5,000 for what they were calling the "paint job."
On Sept. 18, while the second officer was with federal agents, Finnigan arranged a meeting at his home and said he was looking for a different hitman who would be more professional and less risky than the gang members, according to the affidavit. He also allegedly asked for help in finding a killer.On Sept. 21, during a recorded conversation in a car, the officer told Finnigan he had found a killer and needed a photo of the intended target. Finnigan supplied a photo and also agreed to retrieve the potential target's address and provide it, along with a description of the target's car, to the person who would be paid to do the killing, the affidavit states. Finnigan later agreed to pay half of the fee, according to the affidavit.
On Sept. 23, Finnigan allegedly asked the officer to return the photo and expressed his concern about being surveilled by federal agents. Finnigan allegedly discussed getting another person "taken care of," and wrote the initials of two other officers he believed were cooperating against him, the affidavit states. Finnigan allegedly said he might as well take care of all the witnesses.
Finnigan is totally getting paint jobbed in prison.