Oct 16, 2008 6:52 am US/Central
Employee Found Dead In Restaurant Basement
CHICAGO (STNG) ―
Police continue to guard the crime scene where a restaurant manger was found dead Wednesday afternoon in the basement of the Lakeview eatery. Sources said the man was bound and either stabbed or shot.
Randall Hilderbrand, 47, of 3550 N. Lake Shore Dr., was found in a restaurant basement at 2834 N. Southport Ave. and was pronounced dead on the scene at 5:45 p.m., according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's office.
The eatery at the location is Lucca's Restaurant, which serves Italian and Mediterranean food. A source said Hilderbrand was the restaurant's manager. A man who answered the phone at the restaurant confirmed the death and quickly added "but I have no comment" before hanging up.
A police source said authorities are reportedly investigating the possibility the last person to see Hilderbrand alive was someone he met a local tavern. Hilderbrand's wallet was found lying near his body and the incident was either a robbery or made to look like a robbery, the source said.
Hilderbrand's body was found about 2:10 p.m. when an exterminator and maintenance man arrived to do work at the restaurant and found the door unlocked. The workers assumed the person they usually met was already inside so they entered the restaurant to start working and found the body dead in the basement, police said.
Police remain on the scene guarding the restaurant early Thursday, a police source said.
While sources said Hilderbrand was bound and suffered either gunshot or stab wounds, the cause of death will not be known until an autopsy is conducted later Thursday.
Belmont Area detectives are conducting an ongoing investigation, police said.
(Source: Sun-Times News Group Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2008. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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