Alvarez Declines to Charge Daley Nephew in Killing
By Chuck Sudo in News on Mar 21, 2011 3:00PM
Richard "R.J." Vanecko (Image captured via NBC Chicago video)
Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez released a statement saying that charges would not be brought up against Vanecko. Alvarez cited the Police Department's conclusion that Vanecko threw the punch in self-defense and the conflicting testimony of five of the nine eyewitnesses in the case, who said Koschman was not the aggressor and never police otherwise.
Vanecko has a history with the law going back to a 1992 brawl at Daley's Michigan summer home (that also involved Daley's son Patrick) in which a young man was beaten with a baseball bat. Vanecko was carrying a shotgun in that incident and later pleaded guilty to misdemeanor criminal charges stemming from the incident.