Koschman Special Prosecutor Investigating Daley Security Detail

By Chuck Sudo in News on Jan 21, 2013 2:30PM

The Sun-Times reports attorney Dan Webb, special prosecutor in the investigation of the 2004 death of David Koschman, is questioning members of the police security detail of former Mayor Richard M. Daley to see what they may know about Koschman’s death and why Daley nephew Richard “RJ” Vanecko was never charged until he was arraigned on involuntary manslaughter charges last month.

Daley’s detail served not only as security, but as errand runners, chauffeurs for his children and wife, and as the first line of communication to the mayor. The security detail also had previous interaction with Vanecko, who was a player in a 1992 fight at Daley’s Michigan summer home. Daley’s son, Patrick, threw a beer bash at the home while the mayor was in New York when a Daley, Vanecko and friends got into a fight with a group of teens including 15-year-old Andrew Buckman, who was hit in the head with a baseball bat by Mike Lawler, a friend of Patrick Daley’s.

Vanecko, then 17, grabbed a shotgun from the basement during the brawl. Buckman eventually recovered from his injuries and now runs a tea company.

No one’s commenting about Webb’s questioning of the security detail, but it’s been widely recognized that his investigation would not end with Vanecko’s indictment. Webb is looking into how the Chicago Police Department and Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office handled the original investigation into Koschman’s death and if Vanecko’s relationship to Daley played a part into why he was never charged.