Man slain on bike path

Homicide along I&M Canal

A Chicago man was shot to death Sunday afternoon on the Illinois and Michigan Canal towpath less than a half mile west of Interstate 55.

The murder is the third in Will County this week, and the first in the village in about a decade.

Will County Coroner Patrick K. O'Neil would not release the man's name until his family had been notified. The man has family in Oak Lawn, he said.

Detective Sgt. Dave Margliano of the Channahon police said they received a call from a couple of cyclists on the towpath of shots fired around 3:30 p.m. Sunday. They investigated and found the body of a white male, in his 40s or early 50s, lying on the towpath about a quarter mile from the I-55 west frontage road access to the trail.

The cyclists were still in the area when police arrived, Margliano said, but they said they didn't see anything.

About a mile south, William Stirratt of Joliet and his family were having a party at his son's house. Stirratt said he heard six shots, four first, then two. "And I know gunshots when I hear them," he added.

A little while later, Stirratt said, they saw a man on a bicycle come out of the woods behind his son's house. There's no path there, Stirratt said, only a swamp and a lot of brush.

 "I don't know why he would have come through there," said Stirratt, who added that the man's jeans were covered in burrs. He said the man was riding an English-style racing bicycle with narrow tires. The man was stocky, Stirratt said, and guessed he was 35 or 40. The cycle had a couple black saddlebags thrown over the frame, he said.

Stirratt said the rider stopped out at the road and looked at him, then he headed toward the frontage road, saw that police were blocking the road one way and then took off the other way toward U.S. 6.

At least one other cyclist, as well as dozens of other cars, were diverted from the entrance to the canal towpath off the west frontage road by Channahon and Will County police. Yellow police tape initially secured only the entrance to the towpath, but police expanded the secure area a few more yards once media showed up.

Also in the secure zone was an older model Ford Escort with two Chicago city stickers on its windshield. Inside was some fishing gear, including a large net. Channahon Police Chief Steve Admonis said the car belonged to the victim.

Admonis and Margliano were amazed not only at the thought of a homicide in the village, but that it could take place in the middle of the day on a usually busy stretch of the popular recreational towpath.

 Admonis said that area has been especially well used by cyclists, joggers, walkers and in-line skaters since the state put a paved path along the canal under I-55 more than a year ago.

The last murder in the village was about 10 years ago, Margliano said. That one was the result of a fight in a tavern, he said, and the offender was known. "This is the first true homicide we've had in about 28 years," Margliano said.

Channahon police are asking that anyone who has information on Sunday's shooting death call them at (815) 467-2112, or Crimestoppers of Will County at (800) 323-6734. Callers can remain anonymous.

This was the second murder in Will County this week. Early Friday morning, police found the remains of Michael Mirkovich, 30, of New Lenox in a muddy creek bed in Green Garden Township. They arrested his downstairs neighbor, John Coffey, 27, in connection with the murder.