by Björn Schöpe
translated by Annika Backe
April 28, 2016 – On April 1, 2016 a burglar killed 56-year-old owner of coin shop Bart’s Coins & Collectibles, Petro Rymar. At about 5 pm, eye witnesses saw the man climb out of the smashed window and run way. The police was called. After the entrance door was forced open, shop owner Petro Rymar was found dead. He died of stabbing with a sharp instrument.
Although the Old Irving Park area, located in the North-Western of Chicago, is considered safe, there were security devices installed in the shop. The entrance door could only be opened from the inside; customers had to ring a bell; after entering, the entrance door was locked automatically. Apparently, entrance was granted to the burglar who then killed Petro Rymar and stole $200 and a couple of rings. In order to escape, the burglar broke a window with a stool.
He left bloody fingerprints on the safe and the window. They enabled the police to identify as suspect 19-year-old Jonathan H. After the crime, he pawned some of the items he took from ‘Bart’s’ at different money lenders. Eye witnesses confirmed that he indeed was the man they saw escaping.
H. was convicted of another burglary. Arrested on April 19, he remains in custody. He will face the judge on charges with a felony count of first-degree murder, a felony count of burglary and a felony count of armed robbery with a dangerous weapon.
You may read a detailed article on the crime at DNAInfo.
Another report was published in Chicago Tribune.
Through crowdfunding the widow of the victim is currently trying to raise the necessary $10,000 to repatriate her husband to his home in the Ukraine, a village called Velyki. If you want to help, please click here.