IL IL - Chicagoland Hammer Murders - 5 Victims in 1 Yr, 2005-2006

gaia227

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I did a search and did find anything about these murders.

It stared in June of 2005 with the seemingly random attack on Peter D'Agonisto, a college professor, who was walking home from work when a man in a car pulled up and attacked him in broad daylight with a sledgehammer killing him. There were witnesses and a composite was drawn.

On April 3rd, 2006 in Chicago Anna Mae Davis (59) was attacked in her home and bludgeoned to death.

April 26th, 2006 in Chicago a 14 yr old girl was attacked while walking to school by a man with a hammer but she survived. Her composite is very similar to the composite in Peter's murder.

April 27th, 2006 in Chicago Everlena Blame was was 74 yrs old and the day after the attack on the young girl she was attacked in her home and bludgeoned to death with something akin to a hammer.

May, 2006 Dorothy Szany who lived in Hammond Indiana which is just across the border was found in her back yard bludgeoned to death. Her 91 yr old wheel chair bound husband was left unharmed but he was unable to assist the police.

Police don't seem to publicly be connecting Peter's murder, the attack on the 14 yr old girl and the murder of Dorothy Szany but they have suggested a connection between Everleana and Anna-Mae mostly because they lived less than 5 blocks from eachother.
The one thing all of these victims have in common is they appeared to be vulnerable and not physical strong. Peter was only 5'4 and was the 'bookish' type.

It seems like there was not much press about these killings because it is pretty hard to find info. Anna-Mae Davis and Dorothy Szany are mentioned very few times.

Michelle at True Crime Diary wrote two nice entries about the connections between these killings.
http://www.truecrimediary.com/index.cfm?page=cases&id=11

http://www.truecrimediary.com/index.cfm?page=cases&id=14

Local articles:
http://cbs2chicago.com/local/Everleana.Brame.beating.2.327409.html

http://cbs2chicago.com/topstories/Peter.D.Agostino.2.329238.html
 
I did a search and did find anything about these murders.

It stared in June of 2005 with the seemingly random attack on Peter D'Agonisto, a college professor, who was walking home from work when a man in a car pulled up and attacked him in broad daylight with a sledgehammer killing him. There were witnesses and a composite was drawn.

The one thing all of these victims have in common is they appeared to be vulnerable and not physical strong. Peter was only 5'4 and was the 'bookish' type.

Peter was powerfully-built and athletic. He may have been short, but according to sources I've read, he had been a marathon runner in school. Look at any photos and you can see he looks very strong, not a bookish type at all.

I have personally anguished over this case, as though he were a friend or family member of mine. My gut feeling is that there is no connection between his murder and any of the female victims. It is either a racially-motivated hate crime, of which he was the unlucky victim, or a contract or target rubout of some sort (I am certain his wife had nothing to do with it; she is another victim of the incident).

He researched Catholic history, including in Rome. The possibilities there are intriguing. I hope the case is solved.
 
What neighborhood was this in?

Southeast Oak Park was the neighborhood in which he lived. He was walking from public transit to home. I'm not familiar with Chicago residential areas, but I've read that it's considered a fairly safe one.
 
Southeast Oak Park was the neighborhood in which he lived. He was walking from public transit to home. I'm not familiar with Chicago residential areas, but I've read that it's considered a fairly safe one.

Oak park is NOT in Chicago, it's a burb. :)
 
Oak park is NOT in Chicago, it's a burb. :)

I'm not familiar enough with the area to know what's a part of the city proper and what's a suburb. And I don't think it matters.

The name of this thread is "Chicago Hammer Murders." No need to draw a distinction between the inner city and the suburbs because the thread doesn't and the crime appears related to others across the Chicago metropolitan area.
 
Southeast Oak Park was the neighborhood in which he lived. He was walking from public transit to home. I'm not familiar with Chicago residential areas, but I've read that it's considered a fairly safe one.
It's cool, Charlotte. I changed the thread title to "Chicagoland Hammer Murders".
 
The murder of Dorothy Szany was recently covered; it's still unsolved. The article doesn't make any connections between Dorothy's homicide and the other ones mentioned in this thread.

http://www.nwitimes.com/news/crime-and-court/ten-years-later-family-still-searching-for-answers-in-grandmother/article_a6755852-613d-5de0-b03c-ab9b78f2f34e.html

Ten years later, family members and detectives still are trying to piece together what happened that led to the 85-year-old woman’s beating death.

She was beaten throughout her body and left dead in the backyard of her home in the 700 block of Gostlin Street in Hammond.

Hammond Police Department Detective Sgt. Steve Guernsey said investigators have identified suspects in Szany's homicide throughout the years, but there never has been enough probable cause to seek criminal charges.
 

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