Thomas Edward Mennes was 32 when he was killed on January 8, 1993, during the Brown’s Chicken massacre in Palatine, Illinois. He was one of seven people murdered in an armed robbery at the Brown’s Chicken & Pasta restaurant; the others were owners Richard and Lynn Ehlenfeldt and employees Guadalupe Maldonado, Michael Castro, Rico Solis, and Marcus Nellsen.

The motive given was robbery and eliminating witnesses.

One of the attackers, Juan Luna, was later implicated in 2002 and matched to DNA from the scene; he was convicted in 2007. James Degorski was convicted in 2009. Does anyone have memories of Thomas Mennes or information about his life in Palatine to share?