Police tell Chicago Tribune reporters that 76-year-old Arturo Bahena killed his two sons and himself after being told to leave an apartment building he lost in a 12-year divorce proceeding. The shooter's ex-wife had handed the apartment building over to their sons, 44-year-old Romeo Bahena and 42-year-old Rodolfo Bahena, after the divorce.
It's not clear how a Chicago criminal attorney could have helped defend Arturo Bahena had he survived what police are calling an execution-style double-murder.
A witness, a Loyola University medical student living next to the apartment house, called 911 and said he heard two gunshots at around noon on Sunday. He peered out his window and saw a wounded man slumped on the ground; then he saw an older man (presumably Arturo Bahena) holding a gun and walking to where the other man lay.
The witness, identified as Brendan Ringhouse in a Chicago Sun-Times article, told reporters about what he saw:
"Another was on the ground in the yard. He was still alive and he was saying, 'No, no, no,' but the old man walked over to him, stood over him and shot two or three more times."
Then, he said, the shooter walked back to the yard and shot himself in the head.
Relatives were understandably distraught over the shootings, including one identified woman who shouted "Oh God, no!" as she saw the carnage. Romeo Bahena died at the scene, while Rodolfo Bahena died shortly after the shootings at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.
Court records, as well as neighbors, indicate that the apartment building was a constant source of conflict for the family. Arturo Bahena and his ex-wife had been locked in a fierce battle for the property, which became hers by way of a court order in September 2008.
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Find a Chicago Criminal Defense Attorney (FindLaw)
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