Joony

article on nbc5.com

Ill. Student Beat to Death With Bike Lock
By Associated Press
Mon Jul 11, 9:12 AM


In this photo provided by the Malik family, shown ...
CHICAGO - Two men who beat a college student to death with his own bicycle lock had just been on the losing end of a fight and were looking for someone to pick on, the victim's brother said.

Tombol Malik, a 23-year-old University of Illinois at Chicago student, and his best friend encountered the men while leaving a party at a housing complex several blocks from campus early Saturday.

Malik and 23-year-old Anthony Popelka had asked Muaz Haffer and Mantas Matulis, who was bleeding from his ear, if they needed help, prosecutors said Sunday.

"They were just looking for somebody easy to pick on," said 31-year-old Sati Malik, Tombol's brother.

Witnesses told investigators that Haffer first hit Malik with his hands, then took Malik's bike lock and started beating him on the head with it. After Malik fell to the ground, Haffer continued to beat him with the bike lock, prosecutors said.

Matulis, meanwhile, beat Popelka with his hands and used a stun gun on him before kicking Malik in the head as he lay on the ground, prosecutors said.

Malik was pronounced dead shortly after the beating. Popelka was treated at a hospital and released.

The two suspects were arrested near the scene of the attack wearing bloody clothes. The bike lock and stun gun, both of which had blood on them, were later recovered by police, prosecutors said.

Haffer, 21, of Burr Ridge, and Matulis, 20, of Clarendon Hills, were charged with first degree murder and aggravated robbery and were being held on $900,000 bail each. Haffer is a student at Benedictine University and Matulis is a student at the College of DuPage.

Suzanne McEneely, the assistant public defender representing Matulis, said her client had been attacked and was defending himself. She said he had injuries to his hands and had been hit in the back of the head with the bike lock.

Malik, who was born in Saudi Arabia to a Sudanese father and an American mother, was a sophomore majoring in political science at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He had planned to study in Germany during the upcoming academic year, his brother said.

"He was a very artistic, sensitive young man, and we're still just broken up over it," the brother said.

Just last month, a UIC history professor was beaten to death in suburban Oak Park. Peter D'Agostino was found unconscious outside a home June 22 and died less than an hour later. Police said Saturday there had been no arrests in that case.

phillydcbiker

Lock these thugs up and throw out the keys.

Mike_Like_Bike

...with the blood-stained bike lock they used on that poor kid. What a waste.

slvoid

$900,000 bail. Nice.
Good to know they're not going anywhere for a while. I hope they spend the rest of their lives in prison.

N_C

Doesn't Illinois have the death penalty? If it does, then this is a good case to use it in. If it does not then maybe it is time to reinstate it.

AndrewP

What has this story got to do with cycling advocacy and safety?

HereNT

Bike lock?

Zurich

I go to Dental school about a mile from UIC, sad, sad story. The Chicago Sun Times said that the killers expected to post bail. I agree, they should die.

eelozano

If you really think they should suffer then they should live. It will cost more, but will be a more fitting punishement.

thechrisproject

Not much.

CRUM

Actually, it generally costs more to execute than keep em alive for the rest of their lives. The exhausting appeals process can add millions to the tab.