The family of Kenneth Paterimos left stunned and confused after prosecutors revealed that he may have been more involved in a bar fight with defendant Thomas Tansey than previously believed.
Prosecutors said multiple witnesses saw that Paterimos, a 23-year-old barista, was angry after an altercation with Tansey inside Richard’s Bar on the 400 block of North Milwaukee on Feb. 21.
In his proffer, Assistant States Attorney James Murphy told the court that those witnesses saw Paterimos’ friends try to hold him back. Other witnesses, the proffer stated, overheard the victim say he was going to "go outside and kick the defendant’s ass.”
Tansey is charged with first-degree murder in connection with Paterimos’ stabbing death, but his attorney, Sam Amirante, said he was only acting in self-defense.
“My guy got followed in the street," Amirante said outside the courtroom Thursday. “The evidence showed he got followed and attacked.”
In court, prosecutors disclosed there were two altercations: one inside Richard‘s bar and another outside where the stabbing allegedly occurred. Murphy told the court that a witness from a nearby bar “saw the victim standing over the defendant punching the defendant.”
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Tansey was taken into custody Wednesday after his attorney said he sought treatment in a hospital. Amirante told reporters, “he is remorseful about what happened here. … His family is very remorseful.” “It’s a very sad thing,” he added.
Tansey, a former Marine, is currently being held without bond, but given the evidence presented in the proffer, his attorney said he is considering filing a motion for the judge to reconsider.
“I really disagree with the no bail,” Amirante said. “He is presumed to be innocent, and as you can see from the proffer, he is not only presumed to be innocent, he is innocent.”
