Matteson police investigating the murder of a Country Club Hills man at a gas station last month have questioned at length this week two people about the attack, signaling a potential break in the case.
A Country Club Hills woman and a 31-year-old Chicago man she knew were held overnight by police Monday, Matteson Sgt. Lawrence Miller said. The two were questioned about their possible involvement in the killing of Earl Harden, 47, but police didn’t characterize them as suspects.
Both were released Tuesday without being charged.
Fingerprints taken from the scene led investigators to the Chicago man, Miller said.
Chicago police went to the man’s home for questioning and found a .410-caliber shotgun, Miller said. Because the man is a felon, he was brought up on an unlawful use of a weapon charge after he was brought down to Matteson for questioning, Miller said.
Miller said the man told police he is an acquaintance of the Harden family. Miller also said the man has visited the Harden home three times since the June 28 shooting.
At the request of investigators, the woman went to the Matteson police station at 11 a.m. Monday. During questioning she asked for her lawyer, Miller said. On her lawyer’s advice, she refused to answer any further questions.
The Chicago man refused to answer police questions as well, Miller said.
The woman was released at 4 p.m. Tuesday after being held for 29 hours. The Chicago man was released into the custody of the Chicago police and is being held by Pullman Area detectives on the weapons charge, Matteson police said.
Sources said the man’s earlier conviction was in a homicide, but no further information was available.
The shotgun found in the man’s apartment is not believed to be the murder weapon in the Harden case, police said. A bullet taken from Harden’s head and a shell casing found on the scene indicate that the murder weapon was a .25-caliber semi-automatic handgun.
The weapon has not been recovered. The location of the casing indicates to police that the shooting was at close range. Police Chief Larry Burnson previously dismissed the possibility of a robbery attempt, drive-by or random shooting.
Police also are trying to locate a possible witness. Police received a phone call after the shooting from someone who said she was there, but the caller hung up out of fear, Miller said.
“We believe she saw the offender face-to-face,” Miller said.
On the night of the murder, Harden’s wife, Linda, told police she had just finished shopping at a shoe store at the Market Place Plaza strip mall when she saw that her tires needed air.
She called her husband for help and they drove separately to the Amoco station at Lincoln and Governors Highways, police said.
She went inside to get something to drink, she told police, and another couple drove into the station and saw Earl Harden’s body lying next to the car.
The shooting occurred about 8:51 p.m., a time when the intersection is busy with shoppers driving home.
So far, however, no witnesses have stepped forward.
Police also would like to question three unidentified customers who were in the station shop at the time of the shooting and were photographed by the shop’s security camera, Miller said.
The Hardens have three children: Thomas, 22; Terry, 18; and Tiffaney, 13.
