Don Babwin

Read the latest stories and analysis from Don Babwin.

Prosecutors approve search for Gacy victims

Don Babwin · January 12, 2013 7:20 pm

This undated photo provided by the FBI shows , Kenneth Conley one of two inmates who escaped from the Metropolitan Correctional Center in downtown Chicago Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2012. Chicago Police Sgt. Michael Lazarro says their disappearance was discovered at about 8:45 Tuesday morning. Lazarro says the pair used a rope or bed sheets to climb from the building. (AP Photo/FBI,HONS

2 inmates escape from high-rise jail in Chicago

Michael Tarm, Don Babwin · December 19, 2012 3:59 am

FILE - In this March 7, 2012 file photo, gun owners and supporters participate in an Illinois Gun Owners Lobby Day rally at the Illinois State Capitol in Springfield. In a big victory for gun rights advocates, a federal appeals court on Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2012, struck down a ban on carrying concealed weapons in Illinois _ the only remaining state where carrying concealed weapons is entirely illegal. (AP Photo/Seth Perlman, File)

Chicago poised to fight over handguns _ again

Don Babwin · December 13, 2012 10:27 pm

FILE - In this March 7, 2012 file photo, gun owners and supporters participate in an Illinois Gun Owners Lobby Day rally at the Illinois State Capitol in Springfield. In a big victory for gun rights advocates, a federal appeals court on Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2012, struck down a ban on carrying concealed weapons in Illinois _ the only remaining state where carrying concealed weapons is entirely illegal. (AP Photo/Seth Perlman, File)

Court ruling on Ill. gun ban sets stage for fight

Don Babwin · December 12, 2012 5:00 am

FILE - This July 27, 2011, file photo provided by the DeKalb County Sheriff's Department in Sycamore, Ill., shows Jack McCullough, of Seattle. McCullough is scheduled to be sentenced Monday, Dec. 10, 2012, in Sycamore, Ill,. for the killing 7-year-old Maria Ridulph in 1957. McCullough was arrested in Seattle in 2011 and returned to Illinois. (AP Photo/DeKalb County Sheriff's Department, File)

Ex-policeman gets life for 1957 death of Ill. girl

Don Babwin · December 10, 2012 10:32 pm

Illinois State State Sen. Donne Trotter leaves the Cook County Courthouse after posting bond Thursday, Dec. 6, 2012 in Chicago. Trotter was charged Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2012 with a felony count for allegedly trying to board a flight at O'Hare International Airport with a weapon and ammunition in a carry-on bag. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green)

Illinois lawmaker released on weapons charge

Don Babwin · December 6, 2012 10:59 pm

Nanci Koschman, mother of David Koschman wipes away a tear during a news conference, Monday, Dec. 3, 2012, in Chicago, where Koschman and supporting attorneys responded to the news that the nephew of former Chicago Mayor Richard Daley was indicted for involuntary manslaughter in the 2004 death of 21-year-old Koschman outside a Chicago bar. A grand jury is continuing its inquiry into how authorities handled the initial investigation and whether there was a cover-up. Richard Vanecko was indicted by a Cook County special grand jury in the death of David Koschman. Koschman died days after he fell and struck his head during a fight with Vanecko outside a bar in Chicago's Gold Coast neighborhood. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green)

Daley nephew indicted in 2004 bar death

Don Babwin · December 4, 2012 12:47 am

This photo taken Friday, Nov. 30, 2012, in Chicago shows three vials of mass murderer John Wayne Gacy's blood recently discovered by Cook County Sheriff's detective Jason Moran. The sheriffâs office is creating DNA profiles from the blood of Gacy and other executed killers and putting them in a national DNA database of profiles created from blood, semen, or strands of hair found at crime scenes and on the bodies of victims. What they hope to find is evidence that links the long-dead killers to the coldest of cold cases and prompt authorities in other states to submit the DNA of their own executed inmates and maybe evidence from decades-old crime scenes to help them solve their own cases. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green)

John Wayne Gacy’s blood could solve old murders

Don Babwin · December 3, 2012 8:53 pm

FILE - This undated file booking photo provided by the Will County Sheriff's Office in Joliet, Ill., shows Christopher Vaughn, of Oswego, Ill. On Monday, Nov. 26, 2012, a judge in Joliet is scheduled to sentence Vaughn for the June 2007 killing of his wife, Kimberly Vaughn, 34 and three children: 12-year-old Abigayle; 11-year-old Cassandra and 8-year-old Blake, in the family's SUV as they drove to a waterpark. (AP Photo/Will County Sheriff's Office, File)

Judge mulls new trial for dad in family slayings

Don Babwin · November 26, 2012 5:00 am

Chicago hopes Obama’s re-election will pay off

Don Babwin · November 9, 2012 9:33 pm

Attorneys say a Gacy victim was misidentified

Don Babwin · October 26, 2012 4:28 am

Public school teachers cheer as Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis, unseen, arrives unexpectedly to address a rally of thousands of teachers gathered for the second consecutive day outside the Chicago Board of Education district headquarters in 2012 in Chicago. Teachers walked off the job for the first time in 25 years over issues including pay raises, classroom conditions, job security, and teacher evaluations. (AP Photo/Sitthixay Ditthavong)

Chicago teachers’ strike grinds into third day

Don Babwin, Sophia Tareen · September 12, 2012 4:00 am