Lane Bryant Slayings Remain Unsolved After 13 Years

TINLEY PARK, IL — Another year has gone by without an arrest in Tinley Park's Lane Bryant slayings. It was on Feb. 2, 2008, when six women were shot, five fatally, inside a Lane Bryant store in the Brookside Marketplace at 191st and Harlem in Tinley Park.

A gunman forced the six women — four shoppers, the store manager and an employee — to the back of the store and opened fire around 10:44 that Saturday morning. Killed were Connie R. Woolfolk, 37, of Flossmoor; Sarah T. Szafranski, 22, of Oak Forest; Carrie Hudek Chiuso, 33, of Frankfort; Rhoda McFarland, 42, of Joliet; and Jennifer L. Bishop, 34, of South Bend, Indiana. Only one woman, a store employee, survived after playing dead and waiting for the gunman to leave.

In a chilling recording, the killer's voice can be heard here as part of the 911 call store manager Rhoda McFarland made to police while he was still in the store.

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Tinley Park Mayor Jacob C. Vandenberg took to Facebook Tuesday morning saying, "February 2, 2008. We will never forget the five beautiful souls senselessly taken from this world."

Tinley Park Police Detective Ray Violetto has led the charge in investigating the killings alongside his partner, recently sworn in Police Commander Tim Poulos. In 2020, Violetto said police had received 58 tips associated with the case in the previous year alone, and that all of them have been investigated.

Violetto had previously told Patch that it is "astonishing" to receive the number of tips the department gets, considering the case is [now 13] years old. "That means (the case) is still out there and on everyone's mind," he said.

Last year, Violetto told Patch that police have received nearly 7,500 tips since the investigation began, but wouldn't say if there are any suspects, only that the case remains an active investigation, and the police department "remains very dedicated to solving this crime."

On the 10th anniversary of the crime, a 3D sketch of the suspect was released during a media "blitz." Violetto had told Patch that the sketch alone brought more than 100 tips to the station that year.

In 2021, tips are still being sent to the department. Patch has reached out to the department for updates on the case but did not immediately receive a response Tuesday morning.

In 2012, then-Mayor Ed Zabrocki told Patch he believed it was a matter of time before the killer is caught. "I'm convinced that somewhere along the line, someone is going to trip up. Someone is going to talk," he said. "They have to."

He recalled driving to Lane Bryant that winter day in 2008 after getting the call from now-late Tinley Park Police Chief Mike O'Connell.

"Mike saw me, and I remember rolling down the window," Zabrocki said. "I looked at him, and he had tears in his eyes. He said, 'Ed, we've got five dead.' My heart sank."

There is precedent for cold cases like the Lane Bryant killings to be solved in the Chicago area. In 2002, the murders of seven people at the Palatine Brown's Chicken in 1993 were solved. The case was cracked thanks to DNA evidence and a tip from a woman who said the killers confessed to her shortly after the murders.

The sketch of the Lane Bryant killer can still be found on the Tinley Park village website and remains on the wall of the Tinley Park police station.

Police say the suspect is a man between 6 feet and 6 feet 2 inches tall with a husky build and broad shoulders. He appeared to be 25 to 35 years old at the time of the killings, making him 38 to 48 years old today. He has a medium to dark skin complexion.

The suspect was wearing a dark-colored waist-length jacket and black jeans with embroidery on the back pockets similar to a cursive "G." He also was wearing a charcoal gray skull cap.
The Lane Bryant murders tip hotline at 708-444-5394 is still open and tips can be emailed to lanebryant.tipline@tinleypark.org. Tips can be anonymous.

Related:

Lane Bryant Murders: Remembering Joliet's Rhoda McFarland

New 3D Image Of Lane Bryant Suspect Released By Tinley Police

Last Piece Of Lane Bryant Case's Puzzle Needed, Cops Say

A Fresh Start for Former Lane Bryant Building in Brookside Marketplace