A “bizarre” outfit worn by a 26-year-old man helped authorities identify him as a suspect in the fatal stabbing of a homeless man in an Uptown baseball field, prosecutors said.
Anthony Colone, charged with first-degree murder, appeared in court Wednesday, where a Cook County judge denied bail.
Edward Harold Schultz, 65, who prosecutors said was homeless, was attacked around 5:30 a.m. July 14 in the 4400 block of North Marine Drive, stabbed in his head and neck. He died of multiple sharp-force injuries, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
A motive was not made clear in court.
On July 13, Colone — wearing a suit jacket, a Hawaiian shirt, dark gloves, white shorts, a Darth Vader watch on his wrist, a gas mask over his face and a bike helmet — was aboard an L train when a commuter noticed him and the knives in one of the bags he was carrying, prosecutors said. The commuter began taking a Snapchat of Colone and following him.
In response, Colone pulled out a staple gun and waved it at the commuter, who “calmed down” Colone by complimenting him on his Darth Vader watch, prosecutors said. A small portion of Colone’s “distinctive tattoos” were also visible.
The incident was captured on CTA video as well as on the Snapchat video, prosecutors said.
Early the next morning, Colone, wearing the same outfit and carrying the dark bags, was caught on video walking with Schultz to Clarendon Park near the Marine Drive address.
Less than 15 minutes after the two were seen on video entering the park, Colone was seen leaving the park and walking to a CTA station alone and without portions of his outfit, including the gas mask and bike helmet, according to prosecutors. Colone took off his shorts, which had large red stains on them, video footage showed.
Within an hour of Colone taking a train downtown, Schultz’s body was found. Officers found a gas mask and bike helmet near the victim’s body, along with broken blades and knives.
Later that morning, police responding to a call of a man flashing kids in a park found Colone wearing the Hawaiian shirt. He was taken to a hospital for a psychiatric evaluation, and drugs were found in his system, prosecutors said. At the hospital, Colone admitted killing someone, prosecutors said.
Colone has a history of mental health issues and drug use, according to his mother, who identified him on surveillance footage, prosecutors said.
They said the commuter who encountered Colone identified the Darth Vader watch and gas mask recovered in Clarendon Park as items he had seen Colone wearing.
On the day of the stabbing, Colone was in violation of a mental health probation sentence in a case involving an aggravated battery against a police officer, according to prosecutors.
