Comcast Repair Worker Charged With Murder
From the Chicago Tribune:
- "A Chicago cable TV contract worker has been charged with killing a woman in her Hyde Park apartment and is being questioned in the strangling of another woman last week, authorities said."
The man is "Anthony Triplett, 25, of the 8300 block of South Hermitage Avenue, was charged this afternoon with first-degree murder, aggravated criminal sexual assault and residential burglary in the death of Janice Ordidge."
Ordidge, who was discovered after she failed to show up to work, had been badly beaten and strangled. "Chicago police spokeswoman Monique Bond said Triplett gained access to her home through a cable repair appointment."
Triplett is also a person of interest in another slaying. "Friends and neighbors of Urzula Sakowska found her body about 8 p.m. Friday in her home in the 6100 block of South McVicker Avenue, Officer Marcel Bright said..."
More inside.
- Police said a friend had been unable to reach Sakowska by phone earlier in the day and called other friends and neighbors to check on her. When they went to Sakowska's apartment, they found her front door open and her body in the bathroom, her mouth covered in tape.
An autopsy over the weekend determined Sakowska died of suffocation by strangulation, and her death was ruled a homicide, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office.
Comcast has issued a statement, ""We wish to express our sympathy for the family impacted by this tragedy."
"We are cooperating fully with Chicago police as they conduct their investigation," the statement said."
We'd like to take this opportunity to remind everyone that a stranger is a stranger, no matter who they work for. Remember to protect yourself. Just because someone is an contractor for Comcast with an official-looking white truck doesn't mean they're nice. We always like to have several people home when repair workers will need access to the apartment.—MEGHANN MARCO
Cable worker charged with murder [Chicago Tribune]
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Comments:
This is the exact reason that I conspicuously brandish a butcher knife whenever maintenance/repairmen/the pizza guy come to my door.
That is completely horrifying. When I have service people come and I'm alone, I stand as close to the unlocked front door as I can while keeping an eye on the the worker. Also, I stay on the phone with someone aware of the situation.
This story casts an eerie light on the image of the comcast remote control. Reading the headline and then reading the image of the red help button really gave me the shivers. After the help button, the rest of the buttons took on a sinister tone as exit and last jumped out from the page creating an image of desperation in my mind. Scary picture. I'll never look at those remotes the same. Thanks for scarring me Mr./Ms. photographer and headline writer.
Oh my god, that is terrifying. I used to live in Hyde Park, & was home alone with Comcast repair techs on a couple occasions -- for one call, they sent two guys over.
Luckily for me, the servicemen in that area were actually among the kindest & most genuinely helpful Comcast reps I've ever encountered, but it's awful to think about what the alternative might've been. And that poor woman -- I feel so sorry for her loved ones.
Freaky and scary.
It makes you wonder if the Comcast tech making the unwelcome advances (and subsequent phone calls) reported here some weeks back was involved.
This is kind of odd. A while back I went to the new Comcast office here on the northwest side of Chicago in a middle-class area I didn't think was high-crime. The interior is like some high-security area, an unattractively decorated bank drive-thru window, or even a prison. Not overly-bright fluorescent lighting. Dark gray walls. Inch-thick glass on the counter between the customer and the rep. An interlocked double-door type thingie for passing cable boxes and other equipment.
For that matter, on two occasions in 10 years I've had Comcast reps show up without advance notice, once for an "audit" (which I refused), and once to upgrade the cable modem (which I accepted).
The homicide rate in 2005 was 5.6 per 100,000. Comcast has 87,000 employees and 23.3 million subscribers. It was only a matter of time before one of the former savagely murdered one of the latter.
...bet this results in fewer complaints about the installers showing up late.
This is scary. Fortunately I live far enough out that when I had Comcast through here four or five times last month (don't ask), they were dispatched out of Oswego.
Also, I keep my dog with me. Far from foolproof as she's not very scary, but she is pretty big...
How the hell do you get Comcrap techs to show up? They're averaging about 1:4 calls where they actually show up in my experience.
Shouldn't the Tribune know that McVicker isn't in Hyde Park?
Mapquest shows it's west of Midway airport!
http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?searchtype=address&co...
What you didn't quote in your article, which I found the MOST horrifying when I woke up to this on the front page this morning, was that the Comcast repair guy was ALREADY BEING INVESTIGATED FOR THE FIRST MURDER and Comcast was still sending him out on calls when he committed the second murder.
I REALLY want to know if Comcast knew (or could have been reasonably expected to know) that one of their employees was being investigated for murder. Seems to me that when we're dealing with service people making house calls, when they're under investigation for a violent crime they ought not be MAKING HOUSE CALLS. It's not that far outside current regulations -- teachers being investigated for various crimes can't teach; doctors and lawyers can be restricted while investigated, and so forth.
I'm sure Governor Soundbite Blagojevich will make us all sleep easier with an immediate call for everyone being investigated for murder to be immediately fired, then give the contract for giving the police info to the companies to one of his in-laws at a cost to taxpayers of $6 billion, then never actually follow through on the totally ineffective program. Wow, I feel better already.
But seriously -- I think Comcast is going to owe this second woman's family MILLIONS of dollars in a wrongful death settlement for letting this guy go out on calls after he was already under investigation for murder.
(Oh, btw? If you live in a small city like Peoria? You know all your service people and half of them go to your church. My HVAC guys live two doors down from me; my plumber is the son of a friend. Makes you feel MUCH better.)
Excellent question Eyebrows...I'd love to know the answer. Did Concast KNOW that their contractor was under investigation for murder, and knowingly allowed him to continue making housecalls? Could we get a statement form someone Be, Meghann?
I've never liked the idea that these guys aren't actually Concast employees, but are independent contractors...seems fishy to me.
Oh, and yeah, the Naperville Concast payment center is also a soul sucking flourescent lit, dingy, bullet-proof glass type establishment... Not a great image for a company...
ndavies, the woman who lived on McVicker isn't the Hyde Park resident that they were referring to; the other address is definitely in that neighborhood.
Eyebrows McGee, statistically, you are FAR more likely to be killed by someone you know, friend, lover, aquaintence, etc. than you are a complete stranger. So, no, knowing my plumber or HVAC guy went to church at ALL or was a neighbor wouldn't help convince me they weren't out to kill and or rape me. Remember, kids, "A paranoid is merely someone with all of the facts." -Spider Jerusalem, Transmetropolitan
I'm a contractor and I feel indanger every time I step foot into someone homes. There's been plenty of cases that customers attack servicemen that have not been reported "of course". I came to a conclusion that you have to be careful who you are and where you are at. There's situations with phony police officers, Eron,and George Bush!
This is the exact reason that I do not allow my wife to be home alone for any sort of service appointment. Comcast, HVAC repairman, whatever. I don't trust them with my cats, let alone my wife.