• Font Size    
E-mail

Close Window E-mail This Page

Man Charged In Stabbing Of Boss

Required fields are marked with an asterisk(*)



The information you provide will be used only to send the requested e-mail and will not be used to send any other e-mail communications. Read more in our Privacy Policy

Send E-mail

   Print     Share +    Comments

Man Charged In Stabbing Of Boss

by Jon Duncanson
CHICAGO (CBS) ― Authorities have charged a man with first-degree murder in the workplace stabbing of his boss.

Police say 33-year-old Tom Tuduj killed 48-year-old Gary Poter because he was angry over receiving a poor performance evaluation on Monday.

As CBS 2's Jon Duncanson reports, the stabbing occurred at the office Poter Construction & Development, located in a 3rd floor office at the Kennedy-Cumberland complex at 5440 N. Cumberland Ave., around 8:20 a.m.

Police say Tuduj, of Harwood Heights, burst into the office and attacked Poter without warning with a kitchen knife.

The employee apparently approached Poter first thing in morning and stabbed him numerous times, police said. Poter was taken to Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge where he was later pronounced dead.

A person who tried to help Poter was also stabbed during the attack. That person, a 43-year-old man, was treated and released from Advocate Lutheran General Hospital with a stab wound to one of his hands, the deputy's report said.

Following the incident, the Poter offices were filled with people from the commotion. Employees of other firms in the building tried to lend a hand and subdued the attacker.

Dae Kim was one of those people who helped subdue the subject.

"I seen his eyes where he realized, 'OK, something bad just happened, and I did it,'" Kim said.

Detectives aren't saying much about the suspect yet, but they told stunned employees and friends about Poter's death.

Poter is a father of three and a pillar of the community.

"He was just a wonderful guy, a great guy. He would do anything for anybody, especially for the kids. He was always there for all the kids," said friend Jeff Wolfson.

At about 8:15 a.m., receptionists working in an office around the hall from where the stabbing took place heard the commotion.

"We're the receptionists so I mean, if anything were to happen, we're right there," one employee said. "There is cameras and surveillance, but it's still, when things like this happen it still makes you think twice about your safety. So I'm actually kind of scared now. We're right there at the front."

Dae Kim described how he went down the hall during the commotion. He found a dying man with knife wounds being attended to and two other men struggling with a large assailant.

"So I grabbed his arm, I pulled it around this way, and I yanked it as far back as I could," he said, describing his actions.

On Tuesday, a bag stuffed with evidence sat in a police car waited to help answer the question: What fueled one employee's rage to kill?

"I had my knee on his neck. I told him, 'Stop struggling and I'll let up a little bit,'" Kim said. "He just kept going until finally the ambulance came."

Friends of Poter say the suspect had only worked for him for about three months.

Gary Poter was a Little League coach who had been married 24 years.

According to the Poter Construction and Development Co. Web site, Poter was the president and chief executive officer of the company since its inception in 1987.

Poter Construction & Development worked on residential developments such as 2001 S. Calumet, a 59-unit condominium located in the South Loop adjacent to McCormick Place; as well as the commercial development of the Entrepreneurial Training Center in the Austin neighborhood and the vintage rehabilitation of the Shakespeare Residences in Humboldt Park, according to the Web site.

The company is currently working on projects such as the Klee Building Development, a 64-unit condominium in Portage Park's six-corners shopping district; the Leland/Sheridan Development, a 60-unit condominium in Uptown; and the McGill Park Townhomes in Hyde Park, the Web site states.

(© MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

Add Comment

here. here. Need a log in? Register here
  •  * Will not be displayed with comment
  •  * e.g. (http://www.mywebsite.com)
  •  
  • Click here to refresh with new letters

Close Window Login


Close Window Flag Comment


loading...
You need the latest Flash player to view video content.
Click here to download.

Click here to bypass this detection if you already have the latest Flash Player.