A man charged in the sexual assault of a woman in Chicago's Bucktown neighborhood two years ago was found dead Tuesday, the victim of an apparent suicide.
The body of Michael Giffin, 27, was found in the parking lot of Advocate Sherman Hospital, in Elgin, the Courier News reported. He had been scheduled to appear in court for a pretrial hearing and a warrant for his arrest was issued when he didn't show.
[[238427591, C]]
Giffin was arrested Jan. 28, 2012 after a woman claimed he sexually assaulted her. Prosecutors said he met the victim at one bar and went to another bar with her, and then shared a cab back to her home.
She invited him in and they had a beer, but when she said she was tired and wanted to go to sleep, he forced her to have sex with him multiple times, prosecutors said. At one point he threatened to kill her, it’s alleged.
Afterwards Giffin went to the bathroom and the victim ran out into the hallway and screamed for help but Giffin grabbed her by the ankles and dragged her back into the apartment, prosecutors say.
He then strangled her until she was unconscious, it’s alleged.
The victim later identified Giffin as her attacker, prosecutors say.
Giffin had posted $75,000 , 10 percent of the $750,000 bail set for the alleged assault. No trial date had been set.
Giffin, formerly of Pilsen, studied industrial design at the University of Illinois Chicago and was an assistant on the school's soccer team, his attorney said at the time.
