A 2012 stabbing inside a Naperville nightclub that claimed the life of an elementary school teacher was an act of self-defense, an attorney said as opening statements got underway Tuesday.
Daniel Olaska is accused of killing Shaun Wild and injuring Willie Hayes and employee Rafael Castenada with a pocket knife during a Feb. 4 brawl inside Frankie's Blue Room. Olaska has pleaded not guilty to murder and attempted murder charges.
Prosecutors argue that Olaska was rejected by a girl and was angry and agitated before the attack. The girl who allegedly rejected Olaska took the stand Tuesday and described how she'd met Olaska but didn't want to spend much time with him.
The defense said security video from inside the bar will clearly show that Olaska was acting out of self-defense.
Olaska had no criminal background prior to the incident for which he's now charged. He's been in custody since his arrest in the hours after the slaying.
Bail has been set at $3 million for the man charged with fatally stabbing an elementary teacher and wounding two others at a Naperville nightclub.
Wild, of Brown Deer, Wisc., graduated from North Central College in 2011. It was his first year as a second-grade teacher at Spring Brook Elementary School. Hayes, of Lemont, was a senior at North Central College the time of the attack and played defensive end for the football team.
