John R. Hughes, Murder Victim - Podcast

Tackling the 1976 Chicago murder of John R. Hughes. The cold case should have been an easy case to solve — but instead, it became a puzzle that baffled authorities for decades.

There was a dust-up between Italian and Irish teens at a party. Nothing unusual about that, in those neighborhoods of old feuds. “The Italians and the Irish. Bridgeport and Canaryville. Oil and water. It went back as far as anyone could recall,” Jeff Coen, a Tribune editor writes. “It was the same with their fathers and in prior generations.”

These feuds usually erupted in the form of fisticuffs but not on this night, as some from a house party gathered in a neighborhood park to cool off. A green car cruised by and a shot was fired. It hit a 17-year-old named John R. Hughes, the “tall, good-looking football player and member of the student council. … He had college on his mind. He was going places.”

The place he went that night, the last place he would ever go, was Mercy Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 1:20 am on May 15, 1976.

This one-hour audio story is a fascinating look into this cold case. I'm confident you'll enjoy this.

Edited by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.