Fugitive Pleads Guilty to Shooting Cop in '69

By Margaret Lyons in News on Feb 22, 2008 10:11PM

Joseph Pannell pleaded guilty today to shooting a Terrence Knox, a Chicago police officer, in 1969. He'll serve 30 days in jail, be on probation for two years, and contribute $250,000 to the Hundred Club of Cook County, a group that assists the families of police officers, paramedics and fire fighters killed in the line of duty.

Pannel skipped bail and in 1974 fled to Canada, where he lived as Douglas Gary Freeman, worked at a library and married and raised a family. Authorities tracked him down in 2004, and the case has been working its way through the court systems since then, with Pannell initially fighting extradition but then giving up that case.

“I wish the events which led to Mr. Knox’s injuries had never occurred,” Pannell said in court. “It was an American tragedy. By this plea, I accept responsibility for the part I played in that tragedy.”

Pannell's friends and family raised the $250,000, and the donation was, according to the Trib, the Knox family's idea. [Trib, Toronto Star, Sun-Times]

Previously: The Slow-Turning Wheels of Justice.