VIDEO: Prosecutor Grilled About Long-Awaited Murder Charges in Tricia Pacaccio Stabbing

It’s been a long time coming, and the media wants to know why.

Reporters grilled Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez at a press conference this morning where she announced the first-degree murder charges brought against alleged serial killer Michael Gargiulo in the

Gargiulo knew the Pacaccios and was friends with Tricia’s younger brother. He lived down the block from the family and according to prosecutors, stabbed the 18-year-old Glenbrook South graduate 12 times in the early morning hours of August 14, 1993.

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Gargiulo is also facing charges in California of murdering two young women and attempting to murder a third.

Eighteen years later, Alvarez was hit with questions about DNA, the charges Gargiulo is facing in California, and the number one thing on everyone’s mind: why were charges not brought sooner?

Gargiulo’s familiarity with the family—he lived just five doors down from the Pacaccios on Huber Lane—made it difficult to bring charges in the fatal stabbing, Alvarez said at the press conference. She said this was because it would not have been unusual for Gargiulo and Pacaccio to have been in contact, so investigators had to be sure that the evidence linking Gargiulo to Pacaccio was related to the crime, not just their acquaintance.

For example, according to the State’s Attorney’s Office, even after Gargiulo’s DNA was found under Pacaccio’s fingernails in 2003, investigators were unable to confirm whether or not the DNA had come from the “casual contact” Gargiulo would have had with Pacaccio as a friend of her brother’s and a regular in the Pacaccio home.

Alvarez acknowledged how agonizing this wait was for the victim’s family, while maintaining that it was a necessary part of the investigative process.

“Even as a mother myself, I can’t imagine the pain that you would suffer by losing a child in such a violent way, so the family is suffering,” Alvarez said. “But I have a duty as a state’s attorney to not bring charges that are insufficient. … We have worked on this case years and years and years in hoping that we would come to what we are coming to today.”

Witnesses step forward

Despite mounting allegations in California for crimes committed between 2001 and 2008, both the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office and the Cook County Sheriff’s Department said they were unable to indict Gargiulo until now.

Glenview Patch was the first to  following a phone call from Cook County State’s Attorney Spokesperson Tandra Simonton. The prosecutor's office said a tip following a 48 Hours Mystery investigation and a comment left on a follow up helped secure the indictment.

In May, Glenview Patch interviewed 48 Hours correspondent Maureen Maher prior to the airing of the special segment examining connections between Pacaccio’s murder and the murders and attemped murder in California. After the program debuted, a man who said Gargiulo had confessed to Pacaccio’s murder wrote about his knowledge of the case in the comments section of Patch’s article.

“Is it fair to say that without those witnesses, you wouldn’t be able to bring charges today?,” one reporter asked at this morning’s press conference.

“They had a lot to do with this case because now they corroborate the DNA that we have and make it stronger overall,” Alvarez responded.  

Gargiulo is currently incarcerated in California, awaiting trial for the murders of Ashley Ellerin and Maria Bruno and the attempted murder of a Santa Monica woman in 2008. Prosecutors say he may not go to trial in California until 2012, and will not be brought back to Illinois to face charges for the Pacaccio murder until the West Coast trial is complete.

Pacaccio’s parents speak out

Media outlets weren’t the only ones asking tough questions. While Pacaccio’s parents did not attend the conference they did release a statement this morning, which Chicago Magazine shared with reporters at the press conference.

“My husband and I both feel that what Cook County did is, once they found the DNA, instead of pursuing [the suspect] Michael [Gargiulo], they made excuses on why DNA was on her. How pathetic,” Tricia’s mother, Diane, said in her statement.

Diane Pacaccio also said she doesn’t believe Gargiulo would have been charged in Tricia’s murder if not for the indictment by authorities in California.

“As long as he murdered only my daughter, they didn’t care, they didn’t do anything about it,” she said in the statement. “They were willing to leave it an open case forever. Again, how pathetic,” she told Chicago Magazine.

Sharing credit

State’s Attorney’s Cold Case Unit Investigator Brian Killacky, Cold Case Unit Supervisor Thomas Biesty, Chief of Special Prosecution Jack Blackey and Assistant State’s Attorney Nathan Holland were also on hand at the conference to answer questions.

The Cook County Sheriff’s Department held a separate press conference at 11:30 a.m. In a statement, Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart thanked the many detectives who have worked on the case over the last 18 years, most recently, Det. Lou Sala, Det. Chris McGuire and Sgt. James Davis.

“It is our hope that those who knew and loved Tricia can find some measure of peace as a result of this,” Dart said in his statement. 

Stay tuned for more updates and a closer look at how the Glenview community has reacted after waiting nearly 18 years for answers. Click our video link above to watch coverage from this morning’s press conference.

Editor’s Note: We'll be covering the case as it continues to unfold and are eager to speak with people in town who knew Pacaccio or Gargiulo. If you'd like to speak with Patch for a local reaction story following the long-awaited break in this 18-year-old Glenview cold case, please email joanna@patch.com.