Brown's Chicken massacre

On January 8, 1993, seven people were shot and killed at the Brown's Chicken & Pasta at 168 West Northwest Highway in Palatine. All victims had been killed in two walk-in freezers. Six victims were shot multiple times, Lynn Ehlenfeldt also had her throat slashed before being shot one time, and Michael Castro was stabbed in the stomach after being shot. A total of 21 rounds were discharged inside the restaurant that night. The assailants stole between $1,800 and $1,900 from the restaurant, . Two of the Ehlenfeldts' daughters were scheduled to be at the restaurant that night, but were not present at the time of the killing. A third daughter, Jennifer, was later elected to the Wisconsin Senate. Michael Castro's parents called the police a couple hours after closing time. Later, Guadalupe Maldonado's wife also called the police, concerned that her husband did not return home from work and that his car was still in the apparently closed Brown's Chicken parking lot. The final recorded purchase that was made at the Brown's Chicken establishment was a four-piece meal that was sold at 9:08 p.m. ==Perpetrators==

Paul Dennis Reid was considered a possible suspect in the Brown's Chicken incident. He was arrested for three sets of murders in 1997, all committed during robberies at fast food establishments in Tennessee, about 500 miles (800 km) away. Beyond the similarities of killings at fast food restaurants, Reid wore a similar shoe size to prints left by the killer, drove a red car similar to one possibly driven by the Brown's suspect, and was taller than average as was the suspect. In March 2002, more than nine years after the murders, Anne Lockett came forward and implicated her former boyfriend, James Degorski, and his associate, Juan Luna, in the crime. The chicken was kept in a freezer for most of the time since the crime. Testimony at trial indicated it was not frozen for several days after discovery, and was allowed to thaw several times for examination and testing, in the hope of an eventual match via increasingly sophisticated testing methods not available in 1993. Degorski also confessed and an audio recording of it played during his trial, although his lawyers similarly contended that the confession was obtained under duress. Both men subsequently went to trial. On May 10, 2007, Juan Luna was found guilty of all seven counts of murder. He was sentenced to life in prison without parole on May 17. In 2017, an action was filed by the U.S. government to revoke Luna's naturalized citizenship, which he had obtained in the time between the murders and his arrest, but the courts denied the motion in 2019. On September 29, 2009, James Degorski was found guilty of all seven counts of murder, largely on the testimony of his former girlfriend Anne Lockett and another woman, Eileen Bakalla, who both stated that Degorski separately confessed to them. Luna had also implicated Degorski during his own confession in 2002. In March 2014, a jury awarded James Degorski $451,000 in compensation and punitive damages after being beaten by a Sheriff's deputy in Cook County Jail in May 2002. He suffered facial fractures that required surgery. The deputy was eventually dismissed. Degorski appealed the verdict in 2016 and 2022, claiming that Luna had been the sole perpetrator and again calling Lockett's testimony uncredible due to her record for psychiatric issues and past drug addiction. In 2016, Degorski also presented a sworn statement by fellow inmate Richard Bilik, whom Lockett had been dating during their own relationship, who alleged that Lockett had repeatedly asked him about the Brown's Chicken murders, after which Des Plaines and Palatine police took him in for questioning; Bilik had been serving a 15 year sentence for arson since 2012. The appeals were denied both times in court. == Aftermath ==

The incident had an adverse effect on the entire Brown's Chicken franchise. Sales at all restaurants dropped 35 percent within months of the incident, and the company eventually had to close 100 restaurants in the Chicago area. The building briefly held a dry cleaning establishment, and was razed in April 2001 Luna and Degorski were imprisoned at the Stateville Correctional Center, but that facility closed in 2025, so Luna now lives at the Danville Correctional Center and Degorski was moved to the Graham Correctional Center. ==See also==