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WINDYCITYMEDIAGROUP

Suspect in fatal stabbing back in custody, being questioned by police
by Carrie Maxwell, Windy City Times
2020-03-05


Nearly two weeks after the fatal stabbing of 23-year-old bisexual barista Kenneth Paterimos Jr. outside Richard's Bar in West Town, first-degree murder suspect Thomas Tansey, a 30-year-old U.S. Marine Corps veteran, was taken into Chicago police custody Wednesday, March 4.

The arrest stems from a no-bail warrant Judge Peggy Chiampas issued Feb. 27. When Tansey was arrested at the scene Feb. 21, he claimed self-defense and was released without any charges filed against him before the 48-hour window expired.

Witnesses told police that Tansey, who is white, was hurling homophobic and racist slurs at Paterimos just prior to the fatal stabbing.

In a statement issued to this publication by the Chicago Police Department Office of Communications they said, "Thomas Tansey was arrested on March 4, 2020, at approximately 11:34 a.m., in the 1600 block of W. Harrison St. Thomas was placed into custody after officers had prior knowledge that he had an active warrant for murder. Thomas was arrested without incident and charged accordingly. No additional information is available at this time."

Prior to this murder charge, Tansey has had two interactions with Arlington Heights police officers—once in 2016 and most recently in Dec. 2019.

According to his LinkedIn page, Tansey is currently employed as an operations engineer for a paving company in Arlington Heights and spent five years, from 2008 to 2013, in the U.S. Marines.

Prior to Tansey's no-bail arrest, approximately 100 family members and friends of Paterimos, including his mother Diona Bueno, held a protest/vigil outside of Richard's Bar on the evening of March 3 demanding that his killer be brought to justice. When protestors tried to enter the bar, staffers denied them access to the establishment. Protestors have also called on the bar to be shut down due to the lack of cooperation by bar staff.

Richard's Bar is located in Ald. Walter Burnett's ward ( 27th ), where four other bars have been closed down since 2014 due to violent acts in and around those establishments. When reached for comment about the Feb. 21 incident and if Richard's Bar should also be closed, Burnett had not responded before publication.

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