Daley Nephew Vanecko Due In Court Today

By Chuck Sudo in News on Dec 10, 2012 2:45PM

Richard “RJ” Vanecko will appear in court this morning to be formally charged with involuntary manslaughter in the 2004 death of David Koschman. Vanecko arrived in Chicago from Costa Mesa, Calif. Late Friday, turned himself into the Leighton Criminal Court Building at 26th and California, was processed and took the booking photo accompanying this post.

Vanecko was indicted last week by a grand jury empaneled by special prosecutor Dan Webb of throwing the punch that led to Koschman’s death. Vanecko, a nephew of former Mayor Richard M. Daley, was never charged.

The Sun-Times also reported over the weekend that Webb's investigation turned up video of Koschman in the hours leading up to the altercation that killed him. Webb had been searching for video of Koschman since he convened the grand jury and, though the video doesn’t show the fateful altercation with Vanecko, it could be used by prosecutors to show the difference in size between the two. Koschman stood 5-feet, 5-inches tall and weighed 125 pounds; Vanecko is 6-fee, 3-inches and 230 pounds.