Getting at the truth of what happened at 2:30 a.m. Saturday at the unlighted T-shaped intersection of Corron Road and Oak Tree Lane is an investigator’s nightmare, officials said Tuesday.
“It’s akin to a bar fight prosecution,” said Kane County State’s Atty. John Barsanti. “You’ll have 100 people in an enclosed space and you’ll get 97 different versions of what happened.”
Giving prosecutors a powerful investigative tool to use in extracting the truth from reluctant and often contradictory witnesses, Kane County Chief Judge Donald Hudson on Tuesday granted Barsanti’s request to seat a special grand jury to investigate the weekend melee that killed Nicholas Swanson, 20, of Elgin.
Investigators have avoided labeling as uncooperative the participants in the weekend brawl, which took place in a rural subdivision west of Elgin and involved some 50 students or recent graduates of St. Charles North High School or Central High School in Burlington.
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But they complain that witnesses tell one story to them and then are quoted in the media offering new details, causing investigators to double back and conduct second or third interviews, said Kane County Undersheriff Mike Anderson.
Barsanti said the secret grand jury investigation into Swanson’s death is not likely to begin until March 3 because it probably will take several weeks to summon and screen prospective jurors.
Three St. Charles North High School graduates and a former Geneva High School student face felony charges related to the fight.
Brian Halling, 18, of St. Charles; David West, 18, of Geneva; Christopher Leon, 19, of South Elgin; and James Scimeca, 18, of St. Charles are scheduled to appear in court Wednesday, where attorneys will ask that their bails be lowered from $250,000 each.
Kane County sheriff’s police have interviewed more than 30 people, many of them more than once, about the weekend brawl, but they have yet to determine who struck the blow that killed Swanson, 20. He died after he was struck once in the head by a bottle or a baseball bat, said Kane County Coroner Chuck West.
A capacity crowd filled the chapel in the Laird Funeral Home in Elgin on Tuesday night, lining the hallways and spilling into the parking lot while waiting to pay their respects to Swanson.
Many of the mourners wore blue and peach ribbons: blue because it was his favorite color, and peach because girls had nicknamed him “Peaches,” they said.
Swanson’s uncle, Dale Coughran, 43, of Genoa, said his nephew loved working on cars and helping people. Swanson was trying to figure out how to turn those passions into a career, Coughran said.
Coughran urged witnesses to cooperate. “I would like to see all these kids who were involved step up and talk to the sheriff. Step up, and be a man,” Coughran said.
“I hate that it’s going to ruin some lives, but this has to stop.”
Cook County prosecutors faced a similar problem three years ago when a van plowed into a group of people on Chicago’s South Side and an angry mob dragged two men from the front seat and beat them to death.
Although as many as 60 may have seen the attack, only one woman came forward to testify against the eight men who ultimately were charged. In the end, none of the eight was convicted of first-degree murder.
Two were acquitted, and most of the others accepted plea bargains on lesser charges.
“You’d hope in a situation like this that people would come forward and help us, but we had to deal with a lot of crosscurrents of emotion here,” Cook County State’s Atty. Richard Devine said after the last trial concluded in 2003 with an acquittal.
Kane County investigators are facing similar difficulties. Police believe the brawl started as a dispute between two groups and grew into a mob scene as each side used cell phones to call for reinforcements.
In addition to sorting out contradictory witness accounts, Barsanti said investigators are faced with parents reluctant to let their children speak to police, considering that every participant in the brawl could potentially be charged with Swanson’s murder.
Barsanti, who has experience as a criminal defense lawyer, said he understands that concern but at the same time “we’ve got to get the information.”
The grand jury has powers that police officers do not.
The grand jury has subpoena power and can obtain cell phone records of participants that night. By looking at the chronology of calls and any text messages that might have been sent, prosecutors could identify ringleaders and aggressors as well as put together a timeline of events, Barsanti said.
The grand jury also can subpoena witnesses and require them to testify. Prosecutors can put the witnesses under oath, and key witnesses concerned about incriminating themselves can be offered immunity from prosecution and be compelled to testify or risk being held in contempt of court.
Former Kane County gang prosecutor Patrick J. Crimmins said that those who cooperate early in an investigation usually fare better than those who try to strike deals when a case is near completion. “It’s always easier to cooperate in the beginning than cooperate after the fact,” Crimmins said.