Loraine, Chuck and Sharon Percy attend Coroner’s Inquest, Chicago, October, 1966. Credit: Glenn Wall collection
A high-profile lawyer from New York hopes to uncover new information about the murder of U.S. Senator Charles Percy’s daughter Valerie, who was stabbed to death by an intruder while she slept in her family’s Kenilworth home 50 years ago this September. It was the first murder in Kenilworth and the brutality of the crime shocked people on the North Shore and beyond.
John Q. Kelly is a personal injury lawyer who represents families in high-profile wrongful death cases, including the estate of Nicole Brown Simpson against O.J. Simpson; the parents of teenager Natalee Holloway, who disappeared in Aruba, and the estate of Kathleen Savio, ex-wife of former police officer Drew Peterson –among others.
Kelly grew up in Glencoe and was 13 years old when Valerie Percy was killed. She was 21.
“I just remember being troubled and puzzled by it at the time,” Kelly told DailyNorthShore.com on July 19.
So when Kelly noticed the case was nearing its 50th anniversary, he decided to seek information about the murder. Kelly said he is motivated by curiosity in the case — he does not represent anyone.
But when all of his requests for information were denied, Kelly in April filed a lawsuit alleging a violation of the Freedom of Information Act in Cook County Circuit Court. The lawsuit was filed against various Illinois agencies for refusing to release records about the murder of Valerie Percy.
The lawsuit seeks the release of all records relating to the 1966 investigation conducted by the Village of Kenilworth, the Illinois State Police, Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office, the Chicago Police Department and Cook County Medical Examiner, according to the Courthouse News Service.
Kelly said it’s peculiar that so little is known about a case that made national headlines. He noted that media reports are the only information he could find on the case. And the fact that no one will release information about a 50-year-old crime struck him as atypical.
“I haven’t got a single document in six months since I filed a request. Pretty unusual on a cold case,” Kelly said.
Valerie’s former boyfriend Andrew Potash with reporters outside her wake at Scott Funeral Home, Wilmette. Credit: credited to Glenn Wall collection
Kelly said he has no idea what to expect from the records — if they are turned over — and has no plans for what he will do with any new information the files may reveal. “Before I was curious and now I am very curious,” he said.
Chicago native and author Glenn Wall, who wrote the book Sympathy Vote about the Percy murder, is interested in what Kelly may find.
In his book, Wall points to William Thorensen III, the son of a Kenilworth industrial tycoon, as the prime suspect. Thorensen grew up a block-and-a-half away from the Percy’s home. Authorities believe the murder weapon was a serrated bayonet, which was found in Lake Michigan three days after the murder. Wall said Thorensen was arrested in New York six months after the murder and charged with possession of old military weapons. But Wall said Thorensen refused to be interviewed or answer questions about the Percy case.
Wall told DailyNorthShore.com that he was interested to learn the extent to which Thorensen was investigated by authorities, beyond what is already known. He also speculates whether DNA results conducted in 2002 reveal who had been in the Percy’s house on that fateful evening in 1966.
“(L)earning more about who may have committed a crime can also help put to rest questions about those who didn’t do it. Also, a lot of time and money was spent on this investigation. The public picked up the tab,” Wall said.
Since Thorensen was murdered in 1970 by his wife — who was acquitted on self-defense — Wall further contemplates the extent to which a dead suspect would be investigated by authorities.
Certainly many people will be interested to know what those investigative files reveal about the Percy murder, which has remained a mystery over the past 50 years.