Park Ridge CEO Killed As River North Stabbing Caught On Tape

CHICAGO — The fatal stabbing of a internationally renown founder and CEO of a software company early Friday in River North resulted from an apparent botched robbery by a homeless man, investigators believe. Video footage shows the man stumbling out of an alley around 2:30 a.m. in the 400 block of North State Street, leaving a trail of blood from a stab wound to his neck before collapsing on the corner of State and Hubbard streets.

Miguel "Mike" Beedle, 55, of the 2200 block of Woodview Lane in Park Ridge, was rushed to Northwestern Memorial Hospital and pronounced dead at 2:42 a.m. The medical examiner's office ruled his death a homicide caused by stabbing. Police said surveillance video obtained by investigators has been "helpful in establishing an investigative timeline." Detectives are continuing to work on "open and active" case.

Chicago police are asking for anyone who was in the area or who may have any information about the case to report it anonymously to the CPD Tip website.

Beedle was the founder and CEO of the Bannockburn-based software company Enterprise Scrum and a signatory on the agile manifesto, which called for developers to prize functionality and flexibility over comprehensive planning and documentation.

The Mexico native and former Lake Forest resident founded several successful companies over the year, including New Governance, Quant Traders, e-Architects and Framework Technologies, among others. He also traveled extensively training and consulting software teams around the world.

Beedle is the author of several books, including, with Ken Schwaber, "Agile Software Development with Scrum," according to his company's website. At the time of his death, he was writing another book entitled "Enterprise Scrum – Agile Management for the 21st Century."

He leaves behind a wife and six children, three sons aged 19, 17 and 10, and three daughters between 1 and 3 years old.

A GoFundMe page was established to support Beedle's family. Dozens of friends and colleges across the globe who encountered Beedle through his education, business and musical hobbies remembered him as a gentleman who made significant contributions to his field.

One contributor, who said she went to high school in Mexico with Beedle, recalled a conversation decades ago in which he encouraged her to come to the U.S.

“My children will not be born in this country,” Beedle said of Mexico, she remembered. “I want my children to be born and live in a safe country.”