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!'"
