Lane Bryant massacre: Criminal profiler says arrest could come in 2008 murder of 5 in women’s clothing store
It was as cold-blooded as cold cases come.
On Feb. 2, 2008, a man posing as a delivery driver walked into a Lane Bryant clothing store in Tinley Park, a suburb of Chicago, with a .40-caliber semiautomatic handgun. He forced six women he found inside into a back room, duct taped their hands behind their backs and fondled one of them, police said.
Eventually, he shot them all.
While the attacker may have believed he killed all of them, one survived, according to investigators. She was a part-time employee whose description of the suspect police hoped would lead to an arrest. Despite thousands of leads over the past 16 years, the killer remains at large.
The victims, from left: Jennifer Bishop, 34, of South Bend, Ind.; Carrie Chiuso, 33, of Frankfort; Rhoda McFarland, 42, of Joliet; Sarah Szafranski, 22, of Oak Forest; Connie Woolfolk, 37, of Flossmoor. Background: Tinley Park Police Cmdr. Pat McCain makes a phone call in an office dedicated to the investigation. (Insets: FOX 32 Chicago, Background: Zbigniew Bzdak/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
The killer is believed to be just over 6 feet tall, with a “husky” build and broad shoulders. He was described as a Black man between 25 and 35 years old at the time of the attack, with a medium dark skin tone and corn-rowed hair. He had one braid hanging down his right cheek, adorned with green beads. He was wearing black jeans with a rhinestone “G” embroidered over the back pockets, a dark gray cap and a dark jacket.
Grainy surveillance video taken from across the street shows a dark SUV and a dark sedan in the parking lot around the time of the murders, The Associated Press reported at the time. However, it was unclear whether either of the vehicles were used by the attacker.
Authorities also have the killer’s voice recorded in a garbled 911 call, and the Tinley Park Police Department is offering a $100,000 reward for information leading to an arrest.
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LISTEN: Police release 911 audio that contains voice of man who killed 5 in women’s clothing store
“You’re lucky,” the gunman can be heard saying. “I’m losing it.”
The woman’s voice begging police to “hurry” belonged to the store manager, Rhoda McFarland, 42.
The lone survivor’s identity has not been publicized. Police identified the murder victims as McFarland, of Joliet; Jennifer Bishop, 34, of South Bend, Indiana; Sarah Szafranski, 22, of Oak Forest; Connie Woolfolk, 37, of Flossmoor; and Carrie Chiuso, 33, of Frankfort.
“There’s something that’s in that timeline that’s off and you, as the investigator, have to put the pieces of the puzzle together. It’s like a ladder without rungs. We have to fill in those spots.”
Police released a statement on her behalf days after the shooting.
“An unspeakable tragedy occurred, and five of the bravest women I have ever met were senselessly murdered and taken from their families,” she said. “My deepest sympathies and condolences go out to their families and friends.
“Please know that during the unfathomable events of that day, their thoughts were focused on you and coming home. My heart aches that they were unable to do so, and I am working with the authorities in any way possible for all of the victims.”
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Tinley Park Police Cmdr. Pat McCain in the “war room,” an office that houses all the collected evidence in the Lane Bryant case and full-time detectives working on leads Jan. 25, 2013. (Zbigniew Bzdak/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
Tinley Park Police did not respond to an interview request from Fox News Digital.
The cold case can be cracked with the help of new technology and tips from the public, according to John Kelly, a criminal profiler who has been working on the case through his organization, System to Apprehend Lethal Killers, or STALK Inc., and developed a potential profile.
“I believe he lives outside the area, in a bigger city,” Kelly told Fox News Digital. “He has some experience about delivering to businesses, thus entering the back door and showing the manager the paperwork, a ruse, for a delivery to get himself inside and look for cameras.
“I believe he was impulsive and desperate for money,” Kelly said. “Probably an addiction of some sort. Could be ganged up.”
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Tinley Park Police Department Sgt. T.J. Grady speaks during a news conference Feb. 4, 2008, about the murders at the Lane Bryant store in Tinley Park, Ill. A gunman killed five women at the store. (Kuni Takahashi/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
Despite the planning, he wasn’t an experienced stickup artist, the profiler said.
“He was a novice at robbing stores – a major lack of sophistication shows,” he told Fox News Digital. “Why try to rob a store in broad daylight at approximately 10:30 in the morning with no mask?”
That early, cash from the prior day of sales was already deposited, and few new shoppers would have come in to spend.
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“The only cash is to make change and maybe pay out refunds for returns,” Kelly said. “Why rob a place that’s having a sale and there could be a lot of people there? Why kill five people, but he thought he killed six, for a little bit of money and jewelry?”
The sixth victim, who survived, gave police a suspect description that has now been developed into a 3D composite.
This undated image provided by the Tinley Park Police Department shows the suspect in a shooting that left five women dead at a Lane Bryant clothing store Feb. 2, 2008, in Tinley Park, Ill. (Tinley Park Police Department via AP)
Kelly said the attack on the Lane Bryant store may not have been the suspect’s first homicide and may not have been his last.
“He’s walking in without a mask, so he plans on killing going in,” he said. “[It’s] witness disposal. He thought he killed everyone who he believed could identify him. Probably changed the way he looked the next day.”
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Local police announced last year that they put two new detectives on the cold case, according to FOX 32 Chicago.
Joseph Giacalone, a retired NYPD sergeant and professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, said that’s the first step to cracking an unsolved mystery.
Mourners gather near the Lane Bryant store at the Brookside Market shopping mall Feb. 4, 2008, in Tinley Park, Ill. A gunman killed five women at the store. (Kuni Takahashi/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
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“Anything and everything is on the table at this point,” he said. “They’ve got to get back into their lives. Just because it looks like a robbery doesn’t mean it was a robbery. It could’ve been staged. It could’ve been something else. It could’ve been a love triangle. You’ve got to keep an open mind.”
Anyone with information on the case is asked to call the Tinley Park Police Department at 708-444-5394 or email lanebryant.tipline@tinleypark.org.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
