On March 24, 2004, Lake View resident Kevin Clewer, 31, was found in his apartment murdered, the victim of multiple stab wounds. However, his killer is still at large—and Clewer's brother, Ron, has not given up trying to find the assailant.
Ron Clewer talked with Windy City Times two years ago about the stabbing, which is now considered a cold case. Back then, there were no new leads and, in a talk last week, he said that there still have been no new developments. "I spoke with one detective this week, and he said there are some new leads they're exploring—the same thing I've heard in the past—but they're going to look through everything again to see if they missed anything," he told Windy City Times. "Near the conclusion, he said that unless someone comes forward he is not sure how much they have is going to make a big difference. So it's imperative that anyone who knows anything comes forward."
Considering it has been almost six years since Kevin's death, some may understand Ron's frustration. "I can appreciate [ what authorities are saying ] , but it's still disappointing because I'm always of the belief that if there was a lot of focus on the case, maybe it wouldn't be so dependent on someone coming forward," he said. "From a public standpoint there was a lot of focus, but my concern is that at the very beginning—from what I heard—there were struggles." Ron added that his "dealings with the current detectives are better than with [ previous authorities ] ."
Also, they said they're not working on it every day because they're not that much to work on. Again, I'm curious if there's the idea of, 'Gee, we really need to find this Fernando character.' Was that a way to engage the public to come forward? Yes. Is it now the only solution to solving Kevin's case? I don't believe so." ( "Fernando" was a person initially fingered by authorities as a person of interest. )
Ron added that there will probably be a "private" ceremony to mark Kevin's birthday, April 7. "My daughters and I talk about it; my stepmom and I talk about it. ... I won't be doing anything publicly. What I'm trying to do is a March 24 sixth-year anniversary [ event ] that brings public attention.
"In the past, my public attention has been focused on 'Let them find Fernando'—now my mind has shifted. While finding Fernando could be a piece of the puzzle, I think there needs to be more attention from an overall police standpoint. I have a hard time accepting that there's not much that can be done when I heard there's unprocessed evidence, from what I've heard. I understand the state has budgetary restrictions, but it's not acceptable to me—not just in Kevin's case, but in every case."
On March 17, the City of Chicago Commission on Human Relations' Advisory Council on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender ( LGBT ) Issues is slated to read a letter addressed to Chicago Police Department Superintendent Jody Weis. The letter, among other things, asks that evidence be processed and evaluated irrespective of budgetary constraints; urges Weis to re-examine the case; deals with alleged police efforts to discredit the April 2005 arrest of the "Fernando" suspect; and confronts the police's supposed failure to investigate other viable suspects.
As for the future, Ron Clewer said that he is "internally trying to figure out where we go next. I can keep trying to encourage people to come forward, but I need to figure out how the broader community can put pressure on the police and the system to push this."
Visit www.4chicagokev.com and www.officialcoldcaseinvestigations.com/showthread.php. Kevin Clewer also has a Facebook page as well as a MySpace page ( www.myspace.com/4chicagokev ) .
