By Jim Sterne
News Editor
On Sunday, Oct. 5, a benefit intended to raise $30,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the killer of Barry Cunnane will be held at the Irish American Heritage Center, 4626 N. Knox Ave.
Cunnane was shot in the back of the head early on a warm spring morning by an unknown assailant. He was taken to Illinois Masonic Hospital where he lay brain dead until after 4 p.m. on May 24 when he was pronounced dead by the Medical Examiner's office... just as the Air Lingus plane from Dublin, Ireland, with Cunnane's parents touched down at O'Hare.
"It was a senseless act of violence," one friend said. Cunnane was walking down the street with a friend at 1:30 a.m. when two young males approached. They made room for each other on the sidewalk in the 1900 block of Leland Ave. when one turned, put a gun to the victim's head and pulled the trigger.
Frank and Monica Cunnane, who are in their 60s, never dreamed they would be coming to the United States for this reason. More than likely, they shared their 27-year-old son's dream to be an actor/singer/songwriter. Maybe they thought they would be coming to see him act in one of the St. Sebastian Players productions. He acted in their productions of "Studies in Sherlock" and Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night." He also played an Irish drum and sang in the church's choir.
Or maybe his parents thought they would be coming to the United States when he married his girlfriend, who lived just across the street from where Cunnane was shot.
Frank and Monica Cunnane made a pilgrimage to their son's theater, to his workplace, to the many friends who worked and played with their son. They sat in the pew and heard the stories of their son, of his talent and ambition, but also of his concern for other people that made him so likable. It must have been good to hear because they brought him up that way.
Later, his friends would say that Barry's parents were just like him... they consoled his friends without thinking of themselves.
This friend, who wishes to remain nameless, took issue at reports that called Cunnane an Irishman. "He wanted to be an American...he didn't speak with a brogue, which he could have... and the only time you knew he was from someplace else was when he'd say something like, 'I have to wash my teeth.'" This friend wanted people to know that murder is murder, no matter who is killed. "He was a resident of Chicago and Ravenswood and it could have happened to anyone."
Cunnane's remains were returned to Ireland with his parents to be buried in Dublin. To his Chicago friends, he remains here. Other Chicagoans who have lost friends in senseless acts of violence throughout the city have consoled Cunnane's friends. The Chicago Police Department has statistics to prove that violent crime is lower than last year. It may be lower but it will always be high to victims and the people who care about them.
These people want to do something. They need to do something. But as one said, " Sure, maybe in a year or two someone will be tried and convicted and put away for my friend's death, but, it won't change anything for me – it won't bring Barry back." he said. "But maybe with one less murderer on the street, we can stop this from happening to others."
For more information email justiceforbarry@yahoo.com, or go online and visit www.goodegg.net/barry.
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