Harbor drowning detailed in court
Pushed man 'didn't stand a chance'
By Emma Graves Fitzsimmons and Azam Ahmed

Tribune staff reporters

September 6, 2007

John J. Haley arrived at Montrose Harbor on Saturday morning looking for trouble after a night of drinking, police say. He allegedly told his friends that "some of the fishermen look hot, and they need to go for a swim."

Haley was charged with first-degree murder on Wednesday for following through on that threat by shoving a fisherman into the water, prosecutors said. The 62-year-old man could not swim and died within seconds, police said.

Haley, a 31-year-old repairman from Chicago's Palmer Square neighborhood, was held in lieu of $1.5 million bail Wednesday afternoon in connection with the death of Du Doan. He was also charged with aggravated battery for a similar incident on July 31 in which he shoved another man at the same location.

The charges came after Haley admitted to both incidents in a videotaped statement he gave to police, prosecutors said at his bond hearing.

His friends, who were also questioned, said that right after Doan fell, Haley was laughing and bragging about pushing the man into the harbor, prosecutors said.

"These victims didn't stand a chance," Assistant State's Atty. Maria McCarthy said. "They had no idea what was going to happen to them, and in the case of Mr. Doan, that was a death sentence."

Haley's lawyer, Marc Gottreich, said that Haley did not intend to kill the victim in Saturday's drowning. "We believe the evidence will show my client did not push or intend to hurt this individual in this matter," Gottreich said.

Police said that Haley was at Montrose Harbor with four friends about 5:30 a.m. Saturday to watch the sun rise after attending a party. He began to behave erratically and picked a fight with another fisherman, who is a retired Marine. A friend restrained Haley and persuaded him to leave, police said.

Haley then ran back to the water and allegedly pushed Doan in the back with two hands, "launching him into the water," police said.

Some people nearby tried to help him, but they could not save Doan, a Far Northwest Side father of four.

In the July 31 incident, prosecutors said Haley was drinking with friends when he asked a fisherman for a lighter. The two men had a conversation, and then Haley allegedly hit him in the back of the head and pushed him into the water, McCarthy said.

The man was able to swim to safety and only reported his situation once he heard about Doan's drowning, she said. The victim appeared to have Asian features, but police were not sure of his ethnicity.

The two incidents were not Haley's first run-in with police, and he has shown a clear pattern of aggressive behavior, prosecutors said.

Haley was sentenced to 6 months in prison for a 2001 felony conviction for cocaine possession, court records show. Two years ago, he was convicted of battery for hitting a person in the head with a barbell, prosecutors said.

Police had originally investigated Doan's drowning as a hate crime because the victim in both incidents appeared to be Asian, police said. But they now believe it was simply a random attack by an "out-of-control" man, Lt. Anthony Riccio said.

"We concluded that hate was not an issue," Riccio said. "The motive was, in fact, senseless violence."

Haley appeared Wednesday in court before Cook County Judge Israel Desierto with a shaved head and tan worker boots, and his forearms were covered in tattoos. He bent his head, and his hands were clasped behind his back.

Haley lived with his girlfriend in the 2100 block of North Point Street, police said. He earned a GED and had worked repairing heaters and air conditioners for seven years, Gottreich said.

The four friends who were with Haley at the lake have "terrible criminal records" and made "self-serving statements about my client," Gottreich said at the hearing.

A man who said he was Haley's brother declined to comment on the case Wednesday outside his family's Southwest Side home. A man who was leaving the apartment Wednesday afternoon said that Haley's mother was "upset" and "irritated" by people bothering the family.

Detectives said that Haley is a skinhead, but that he is part of a group that is against racism. He identified himself as a member of SHARP, or "Skinheads Against Racial Prejudice," police said.

The people in this faction are "polar opposites" from the racist skinheads that most people picture in their minds, said Elana Stern, the associate director of the Chicago chapter of the Anti-Defamation League. Skinheads in SHARP are rarely on her radar because they do not target minorities, she said.

Members of a MySpace group called "Chi-Town SHARP" said they despise racist skinheads.