Arrest warrants remain active in 49 states for Utah businessman Michael MacKay, despite the Illinois Supreme Court's refusal to hear an appeal of a ruling overturning murder convictions of three co-defendants in the 1983 cyanide-poisoning death of a Chicago worker.
The court made no comment on its refusal to hear the case involving now-defunct Film Recovery Systems Inc. The Elk Grove, Ill., company used cyanide to strip silver from used X-ray film.In 1985, FRS President Steven J. O'Neil, plant manager Charles Kirschbaum and plant foreman Daniel Rodriguez were convicted of murder, involuntary manslaughter and reckless conduct in the death of Stefan Golab, a 61-year-old Polish immigrant.
O'Neil, Kirschbaum and Rodriguez were sentenced to 25 years in prison and fined $24,000 each.
However, their convictions were overturned by the Illinois appellate court in January. Prosecutors appealed to the state justices, who ruled against them on Wednesday, leaving in place the appellate court's order for a new trial.
While blasting the high court's decision, Cook County State's Attorney Cecil Partee has said he will prepare to retry the case, as ordered.
O'Neil, Kirschbaum and Rodriguez are free on bond pending further court proceedings.
MacKay - who maintains his interest in FRS was only financial, and that he had nothing to do with day-to-day operations - has repeatedly been targeted for extradition. But he remains free in Utah, where governors have repeatedly refused to turn him over for prosecution in Cook County, Ill.
First, former Gov. Scott Matheson, and later current Gov. Norm Bangerter, refused to honor Illinois extradition requests. They said they were convinced not only that the charges against MacKay were unfounded, but that he could not receive a fair trial in Cook County.
However, Ed McManus, a spokesman for Partee, said the arrest warrants - first issued in 1984 - still are active and could be enforced if MacKay travels outside Utah's borders.
"Those warrants are still in effect," he said, adding that a fourth extradition request to Utah, while "not now in the works," has not been ruled out at some later time.
"We would certainly like to get him back here. We continue to want to prosecute the man," McManus said.
MacKay's attorney, Richard Ferrari, said there is little his client can do but wait for the outcome of the new trial. At least until then, he remains in Utah, the target of an Illinois-enforced legal quarantine.
While praising the Illinois Supreme Court ruling, Ferrari said it "leaves (MacKay) exactly where he's been" since 1984 - unable to conduct business outside the state except by telephone.
"Mike just turned 50. This matter has been going on now for over six years - that's 12 percent of his life," Ferrari said.