THE JOURNAL & TOPICS NEWSPAPERS | WEDNESDAY, APRIL 23, 2008
Second Man Charged In 2007 Murder
The Niles Police Dept. has charged a second man in connection with the February 2007 murder of 28-year-old Michael Childers.
Niles Police Sgt. Tom Davis said that Rafael Diaz, 21, of the 4400 block of Gunnision Street in Chicago was charged last Thursday, Apr. 17 with three counts of murder and one count of home invasion for his alleged role in Childers' death.
Frank Limardo, of the 5700 block of Wellington Avenue in Chicago, was charged on Thursday, Apr. 10 with three counts of murder and one count of home invasions.
Chidlers was killed when three men attempted to break in to the Niles home Childers shared with his father, Leonard Bird.
Bird, a coin and jewelry dealer confronted the men as they entered.
Though armed with a gun, Bird told the Journal he hesitated, choosing to call police rather than shooting.
Childers was caught in the subsequent hail of gunfire and killed.
Davis said information obtained by Chicago Police Area Five Spanish Gangs Task Force led to an investigation by Niles Police that led Daiz's charges after another man was charged last month.
Police caught their first big break in the case when, in February of 2008 a fingerprint allegedly belonging to Limardo was identified by the Illinois Crime Lab.
Limardo was already in police custody charged with damage to property after carving a gang symbol into the wall of an interrogation room of the new Niles Police Station where he was being questioned about the Childers murder.
At the time Diaz was sought by Niles Police, he was serving a parole violation at the Hill Correctional Facility in Galesburg, Ill.
He was transported to the Cook County Courthouse in Skokie.
Cook County Circuit Court Judge Garrett Howard remanded Diaz to the Cook County Jail with no bond.
The third suspect is still at large.