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Vigil Held For Slain Brooklyn Bartender

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Chai Eun Hillman (via Facebook)
Last night, over 100 people gathered at the Branded Saloon to pay tribute to Chai Eun Hillmann, who was killed outside the Prospect Heights bar last Thursday. Hillmann, 41, who was off-duty at the time but was there to hear a co-worker perform, was fatally stabbed when ex-con Daniel Pagan, 36, allegedly became upset when Hillmann's miniature Pinscher was fighting with his Shih Tzu.

The Daily News reports that Daniel Hultquist, who was slashed when he tried to intervene, said at the vigil, "Everybody in this community takes care of each other. We see someone laying on the street, we pick them up." In an earlier interview, Hultquist told the News, "I saw the guys fighting. I run over there and next thing I know blood is running down my neck." He added that Hillmann, who was a martial arts sensei and actor, "was a good guy. I'm p----ed this happened."

Pagan, who served nine years in prison for killing a person in 1991 and injuring another, was charged with murder, attempted murder and criminal possession of a weapon. Surveillance video apparently shows Pagan punching Hillmann then stabbing him twice. Pagan's wife defended him, telling the Post, "Everyone thinks he is a horrible person; he's not a horrible person He did that in a blind rage. He didn't even remember what he did... He probably wants to kill himself. He has slight bipolar. He couldn't focus. He has ADD. He has diabetes." She also said that Hillmann was "wasted drunk... He could hardly speak. He was threatening me. He... grabbed my arm, and Daniel went crazy and said, 'Don't touch my wife!'"

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Comments [rss]

  • Dead Himmler

    Working on a hat trick I see.

  • PCJudo

    The problem is certain population groups of humans seem to be more like animals in that they react violently at the slightest provocation. In much of the world, such as East Asia from which the victim descended, these kind of events are extraordinarily rare. In places like New York City however, where the egalitarian religion is enforced by the law, we have these kinds of incidents on a regular basis.

    Only when they are amusing do we hear about them.

  • Ph

    You got a link to stormfront backing this assertion up?

    I got some Triad friends that would like to have a word with you.

  • Tower18

    I think he's actually saying it's very UNCOMMON there, but much more common here.

    Not that I'm clear on his implication, but I think you might have it twisted.

  • John L

    2 drunk guys fighting a sober ex-con with a knife seldom ends well for anyone involved.

    Get a good lawyer Daniel Pagan,

    Get well Daniel Hultquist and,

    Rest in peace Chai Eun Hillmann.

  • Guest

    for once i saw your point on making alcohol illegal, yet making weed legal. i used the past tense, because i still think that people should be given more freedom and not less.

    but if the govt did a trade-off, meaning if i had a choice to choose one to become legal, i'd definitely choose weed over alcohol. any. fucking. day.

  • Guest

    Rest in peace, Mr. Hillmann.

  • kazubes

    The usual response, its never the perps fault its always something else

  • Spirit of 76

    "He has slight bipolar. He couldn't focus. He has ADD. He has diabetes."

    He has Tourett Syndrome. He has Munchausen. He has a hangnail. He has a bald spot. He has nearsightedness. Have we run out of excuses yet?

    "That Asian guy..."

    Ah, I think we know where you're coming from now. Racist white trash. It's just too bad your wonderful hubby didn't meet up with that other "Asian guy" in Brooklyn the one who slashed his ex's family. Everybody wants to see a good knife fight, especially when two losers are involved.

  • nik13

    Someone named Pagan is almost certainly a Puerto Rican or some sort of Latino. Normally you'd celebrate such people as professional victims of evil white establishment. They are seldom perpetrators, and if they snap they clearly have real reasons to do so. Like having their chipmunk dogs barked at.

  • Tower18

    There's a picture of the guy in the article...I'm not sure he's Puerto Rican.

  • Guest

    the wife's name was walsh. some people are just ignorant and most of them are normal people otherwise -- things happen, ignorant people happen, shit happens, etc. this was probably just senselessness mixed in with violent rage.

  • Rocknrope

    Completely agree.

  • dollarmenu

    He... grabbed my arm, and Daniel went crazy

    And that's why everyone thinks he's a horrible person.

  • nicemarmot

    ADD is the new excuse for murder? But he paid attention long enough to kill the guy...

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