Family
files civil suit in funeral-home slaying
(As reported in the Chicago Tribune,
12/13/02)
By
Shia Kapos
Tribune staff reporter
The
family of a church worker found stabbed to death in a North
Side funeral home last month filed a wrongful death lawsuit
Thursday against her former co-worker.
The
family of Mary Stachowicz is calling for unspecified damages,
saying it wants to make sure Nicholas Gutierrez does not
profit from the case with books or movies.
"This
has been a difficult and painful time for our family,"
said Peter Stachowicz, one of the 51-year-old woman's four
adult children.
Gutierrez,
19, is accused of killing the St. Hyacinth Church volunteer
after an argument in which she questioned him about his
sexual orientation. The two had worked together at the Sikorski
Funeral Home, and Gutierrez lived above the business.
The
confrontation reminded him of his mother and he became angry,
Gutierrez said in a statement to police. Stachowicz's stabbed
and strangled body was discovered Nov. 15 in the crawl space
of his apartment.
"The
family considers this a very hateful act," said Timothy
Cavanagh, who filed the civil suit on behalf of Stachowicz's
husband, Jerry.
In
questioning Gutierrez about his lifestyle, Stachowicz "was
trying to help this man," Cavanagh said.
A
grand jury has charged Gutierrez with first-degree murder,
burglary and concealment of a homicide. The charges do not
address the state's hate crimes statute, but that issue
could come up during sentencing, according to the Cook County
state's attorney's office.
A
pre-arraignment hearing in the criminal case is set for
Friday and a preliminary hearing is set for Dec. 31.
No
court date has been set for the civil lawsuit.
The
case has renewed the debate about hate crimes. Some have
said Stachowicz was killed because of her religious beliefs
against homosexuality.
They
point to the 1998 beating death of gay college student Matthew
Shepard.
"These
cases have been treated differently," said John Dickey,
executive director for the Illinois Christian Coalition,
pointing to the thousands of articles published on Shepard
and the few on Stachowicz. "Christians are killed as
martyrs all over the world and very little is said about
that."
