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Today in Chicago History: Brown’s Chicken murders — 5 employees, 2 owners found dead inside Palatine restaurant

Red carnations are left in the snow outside the Brown's Chicken massacre site in Palatine on Jan. 10, 1993. (Nancy Stone/Chicago Tribune)
Red carnations are left in the snow outside the Brown’s Chicken massacre site in Palatine on Jan. 10, 1993. (Nancy Stone/Chicago Tribune)
By | krumore@chicagotribune.com | Chicago Tribune
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Here’s a look back at what happened in the Chicago area on Jan. 8, according to the Tribune’s archives.

Is an important event missing from this date? Email us.

Front page (Sports front) flashback: Jan. 9, 2014

Both Chicago baseball teams were represented on the first ballot of the Baseball Hall of Fame on Jan. 8, 2014. White Sox slugger Frank Thomas and Cubs pitcher Greg Maddux received enough votes for induction. (Chicago Tribune)
Both Chicago baseball teams were represented on the first ballot of the Baseball Hall of Fame on Jan. 8, 2014. White Sox slugger Frank Thomas and Cubs pitcher Greg Maddux received enough votes for induction. (Chicago Tribune)

Chicago White Sox slugger Frank Thomas and Atlanta Braves/Chicago Cubs pitcher Greg Maddux were elected by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America to the Hall of Fame.

Weather records (from the National Weather Service, Chicago)

  • High temperature: 63 degrees (1965)
  • Low temperature: Minus 11 degrees (1942)
  • Precipitation: 1.18 inches (1935)
  • Snowfall: 3.6 inches (1974)
Poet Gwendolyn Brooks, center, lived on Chicago's South Side all her life. She walks unrecognized by passersby in Chicago in 1961. (Chicago Tribune archive photo)
Poet Gwendolyn Brooks, center, lived on Chicago's South Side all her life. She walks unrecognized by passersby in Chicago in 1961. (Chicago Tribune archive photo)

1968: Gwendolyn Brooks was named the poet laureate of Illinois, succeeding Carl Sandburg, who died July 22, 1967. She held the position until her death in 2000.

Among those killed in a Brown's Chicken & Pasta restaurant in Palatine on Jan. 8, 1993 were Richard E. and Lynn Ehlenfeldt, a couple who bought the business just months earlier; Guadalupe Maldonado, an immigrant cook; and Michael C. Castro and Rico L. Solis, Palatine High School students. Palatine residents Thomas Mennes and Marcus Nellsen were also victims.(Chicago Tribune)
Among those killed in a Brown’s Chicken & Pasta restaurant in Palatine on Jan. 8, 1993, were Richard E. and Lynn Ehlenfeldt, a couple who bought the business just months earlier; Guadalupe Maldonado, an immigrant cook; and Michael C. Castro and Rico L. Solis, Palatine High School students. Palatine residents Thomas Mennes and Marcus Nellsen were also victims. (Chicago Tribune)

1993: Seven people — five employees and the couple that owned the restaurant — were killed inside Brown’s Chicken & Pasta at 168 W. Northwest Highway in Palatine.

Juan Luna and Jim Degorski escaped justice for nearly a decade until investigators caught a break. Degorski had told an ex-girlfriend of his role in the killings, and a friend who overheard her talking about it in 2002 went to police.

Another piece of evidence was crucial to the case. Investigators had saved a discarded meal from the scene, and as DNA analysis improved, they were able to match DNA left on a chicken bone with Juan Luna’s saliva. The two were arrested in May 2002. Luna was convicted of murder in 2007, and Degorski followed two years later. Jurors spared them the death penalty, but both are serving life sentences with no possibility of parole.

Then-Bears coach Matt Nagy celebrates after the team clinched the NFC North title with a 24-17 victory over the Packers on Dec. 16, 2018, at Soldier Field. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune)
Then-Bears coach Matt Nagy celebrates after the team clinched the NFC North title with a 24-17 victory over the Packers on Dec. 16, 2018, at Soldier Field. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune)

2018: The Chicago Bears hired Matt Nagy as the franchise’s 16th head coach.

With a loss to the Vikings in the last game of the 2021 season, Nagy ended his fourth season with the team with a 34-31 record. Nagy and Bears general manager Ryan Pace were fired the next day.

Ben Johnson is the 19th Chicago Bears head coach. Here’s a look at how past coaches fared — and why they left.

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Have an idea for Vintage Chicago Tribune? Share it with Kori Rumore and Marianne Mather at krumore@chicagotribune.com and mmather@chicagotribune.com

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