13 years after businessman's disappearance, DuPage detective gives case a fresh look

By Charles Keeshan and Susan Sarkauskas

More than 13 years ago after John "Chicago Johnny" Spira vanished from his workplace near West Chicago, a DuPage County sheriff's investigator is trying a new tack to solve the lingering mystery.

Detective David Chiesa told us Thursday he is looking into the St. Charles man's financial dealings, including whether he may have borrowed money from less than reputable sources.

"John had some businesses going on," Chiesa said. "We are trying to just figure out who loaned money to him."

The case got fresh eyes last year when Sheriff James Mendrick assigned Chiesa, a 15-year veteran, to look into it.

Spira, who was 45, was a "charismatic guy" who had many interests, Chiesa said. He played in a blues band called the Rabble Rousers and owned several businesses, including Flight Matrix and Universal Cable Construction.

He was last seen Feb. 23, 2007, at UCC on County Farm Road. For several years after, drivers on nearby North Avenue passed a billboard featuring his face and a plea for information on his disappearance.

Spira was in the middle of a divorce at the time. After his disappearance, two foreclosure suits were filed against him and his wife. But Chiesa agrees with friends and relatives who say Spira would never just leave without telling them.

His family maintains a Facebook page, Missing John Spira, detailing their efforts to find Spira.

UCC suffered a severe fire five months later, fueling suspicion among Spira's friends and relatives that it was connected somehow to Spira's disappearance. Chiesa said there's no evidence the co-owner of UCC had anything to do with Spira's disappearance.

Officially, it is still a missing-person case, but "it is presumed to be a homicide," Chiesa adds.

Anyone with information is asked to call Chiesa at (630) 407-2364 or email him at david.chiesa@dupagesheriff.org

Guilty plea stands

Disgraced former Schaumburg police Sgt. Terrance O'Brien got some bad news late last week: DuPage County Judge Liam Brennan refused to throw out his guilty plea to charges of delivery of a controlled substance, official misconduct, burglary and armed violence.

O'Brien was one of three Schaumburg cops accused in 2013 of skimming marijuana and cocaine from drug busts, then selling them to drug dealers. O'Brien and co-defendant Matthew Hudak pleaded guilty. Charges against a third, John Cichy, were dropped a few days before his trial.

Now serving a 24-year prison term, O'Brien was asking to have his 2014 guilty plea thrown out because, he argued, DuPage prosecutors didn't inform his defense that a witness against him was charged with burglary. The law requires that prosecutors provide information that would cast doubt on witnesses' credibility and honesty.

But Brennan wrote that while the prosecution "arguably engaged in skulduggery when it failed to disclose the informant discovery," there's no precedent that it entitles a defendant to withdraw a guilty plea. And the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that when someone "knowingly and voluntarily" pleads guilty, he or she waives the right to a fair trial. (And as courtroom observers, we've heard judges give that warning many, many times.)

O'Brien also lost arguments that he was erroneously sentenced, and that his lawyer was ineffective.

The ruling was one of the last, if not the last, actions Brennan took from his bench in the DuPage County Judicial Center. On Monday, he became an appellate court judge.

Keeping his word

Before he became president of the International Association of Chiefs of Police last year, Buffalo Grove Police Chief Steve Casstevens promised he would make officer wellness and mental health a hallmark of his administration.

Casstevens is living up to the pledge. Last week, he addressed those issues while testifying as an expert witness before the President's Commission on Law Enforcement. Launched last fall through an executive order by President Donald Trump, the commission was created to address several law enforcement challenges, including the safety, health and wellness of officers.

"The time has come to give the mental health and wellness of officers the same focused care and attention as we give to their physical safety," Casstevens testified.

Driving his mission is the disturbing rise in police officer suicides in recent years. According to the organization Blue HELP, officer suicides are up almost 60% in just the past four years - from 143 in 2016 to 228 in 2019.

Departments team for training workshop

The suburbs continue to become more diverse, and its police departments are trying to follow suit.

With that in mind, several Northwest suburbs are partnering this weekend to hold a Police Officer Training Workshop aimed at attracting new and more diverse candidates into the law enforcement profession.

The event is 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Saturday, at Harper College's Wojcik Conference Center, 1200 W. Algonquin Road, in Palatine.

The one-day workshop is put on by the Northwest Suburban Law Enforcement Recruitment Taskforce - created by the Arlington Heights, Buffalo Grove, Elk Grove Village, Hoffman Estates, Mount Prospect, Palatine and Schaumburg police departments - and Harper's Law Enforcement and Justice Administration Program.

Along with networking, it will offer workshop sessions covering the police officer selection process, from the written examination to physical testing to in-person interviews.

The cost to attend is $25 and you can register at bit.ly/PoliceOfficerTesting.

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