Stories by Matt Masterson

Tommy Schaefer, the man who allegedly conspired with his then-girlfriend Heather Mack to kill her mother at a luxury resort in Bali, said he intends to represent himself and pleaded not guilty to the crime.

Tommy Schaefer, the man who in 2014 allegedly beat to death Sheila von Wiese-Mack in Bali as part of a plot with her daughter Heather Mack to gain access to a $1.5 million trust fund, has been returned to the U.S. and is in federal custody.

Montoya Perry, 33, will be detained in the Cook County Jail pending trial after her arrest on felony murder and vehicular hijacking charges following the death of 28-year-old Daniel Figueroa.

Andrew Boutros, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, has announced that his office has been selected by the Department of Justice to serve as a lead prosecutorial partner on its Trade Fraud Task Force.

Increased investments in a violence intervention program that targets Chicago communities with the highest rates of gun violence has led to continued declines in the number of shootings and homicides, a new study found.

The Illinois Education Association on Monday published its annual State of Education report, which offers a glimpse into residents’ feelings on all aspects of the state’s public education system.

The University of Chicago is among dozens of universities and colleges that have agreed to terminate their partnerships with a nonprofit that helps students from underrepresented groups get degrees in business.

Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke has implemented a new protocol that calls for the use of all available prosecutorial tools to support investigations into the use of force by federal immigration officers.

A federal judge on Thursday handed Fidel Marquez a two-year sentence of probation along with a $50,000 fine, more than five years after he entered a guilty plea to a bribery charge.

Rainbow/PUSH announced that Jackson, who passed away this week at the age of 84, will be laying in state at the coalition’s office — located at 930 E. 50th Street — on Feb. 25 and Feb. 26 ahead of a funeral next weekend.

Richard Zuley, who spent 30 years as a CPD detective, testified that he never verbally or physically assaulted Anthony Garrett, who was sentenced to 100 years in prison following his conviction in the shooting death of 7-year-old Dantrell Davis.

Officials from Chicago and across Illinois expressed condolences and shared their memories of legendary Civil Rights leader Jesse Jackson, who passed away Tuesday at the age of 84.

Ofelia Torres, the 16-year-old whose cancer battle gained national attention last fall after her father was detained by immigration agents outside a suburban Home Depot, has died.

U.S. District Judge Manish Shah signed off on the restraining order Thursday in a lawsuit brought by attorneys general from four states including Kwame Raoul that sought to prevent the cuts.

Preckwinkle urged Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke to act “swiftly, proactively and transparently” in order to ensure accountability after agents have repeatedly used “excessive force."

The Board of Education is no longer working with Alma Advisory Group, which was hired last May to help guide the search for Chicago Public Schools’ next permanent CEO, according to a statement from six board members.

Attorney General Kwame Raoul announced the new lawsuit, which was filed along with officials from California, Colorado, Minnesota after the Office of Management and Budget’s directive to cut grants from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — a move that could be enacted as early as Thursday.

The new evidence includes texts to and from Exum following the shooting, surveillance photos and body camera footage from agents who were at the scene of the Oct. 4 shooting of Marimar Martinez.

In her first public comments since the attack, MaGee announced that she was released from Stroger Hospital on Thursday, which she called an “important step in my recovery.”

Marimar Martinez had sought the release of evidence from the incident to combat continued claims from the Department of Homeland Security that she is a “domestic terrorist” who ambushed agents, despite federal prosecutors voluntarily dismissing their case against her.

Alexis Trader, 34, will be detained in Cook County Jail pending trial after he was charged Thursday in the death of 63-year-old captain Nabil Abzal, who was pulled from the harbor waters in the early morning hours of Aug. 30, 2025.

Clerk Mariyana Spyropoulos’ office has launched a new program that allows traffic citations to be transmitted to her office electronically, which she said will cut down on delays and improve overall efficiency.

U.S. District Judge James Hanlon on Tuesday ruled that Juan Espinoza Martinez is likely “at minimum entitled to a bond hearing and not subject to mandatory detention” after he was taken into custody last month.

According to Chicago Police Department data, there were 29 homicides recorded in January. That’s the second lowest total for that month over the past decade and marks a 29% decrease over January 2025 (41 homicides).

Anosh Ahmed, the former Loretto Hospital executive who allegedly fled to Dubai after he was charged in a $15 million embezzlement scheme, has been taken into custody in Serbia, according to federal prosecutors.

Chief Judge Charles Beach had pledged to overhaul the county’s monitoring system following a high-profile arson attack on a Blue Line train last year, allegedly carried out by a man free on electronic monitoring.