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Red Wings defenceman Chelios talks about killings at his restaurant
DETROIT (AP) - A sombre Chris Chelios described for the first time Thursday the sorrow he felt upon learning that two employees of
his downtown eatery had been stabbed to death.
The longtime NHL defenceman, who plays for the Detroit Red Wings, said the deaths on Tuesday of Megan Soroka and Mark Barnard
were "senseless .... and there's no explanation."
A 17-year-old who recently was fired as a bus boy from Cheli's Chili Bar is charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the killings.
Justin Blackshere of Detroit faces mandatory life in prison without parole if convicted as charged. He was arraigned Wednesday
evening in 36th District Court, and Magistrate Milicent Sherman ordered him held without bond until a preliminary examination Jan. 16.
"I'm just going to try to get through this day by day with everybody," said Chelios, who did not play in Detroit's 2-1 win against Anaheim
on Tuesday night and was not travelling with the team for its game Thursday night at San Jose.
Chelios said he would rejoin the team when the time is right.
The restaurant was opening Thursday for the first time since the stabbings.
his downtown eatery had been stabbed to death.
The longtime NHL defenceman, who plays for the Detroit Red Wings, said the deaths on Tuesday of Megan Soroka and Mark Barnard
were "senseless .... and there's no explanation."
A 17-year-old who recently was fired as a bus boy from Cheli's Chili Bar is charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the killings.
Justin Blackshere of Detroit faces mandatory life in prison without parole if convicted as charged. He was arraigned Wednesday
evening in 36th District Court, and Magistrate Milicent Sherman ordered him held without bond until a preliminary examination Jan. 16.
"I'm just going to try to get through this day by day with everybody," said Chelios, who did not play in Detroit's 2-1 win against Anaheim
on Tuesday night and was not travelling with the team for its game Thursday night at San Jose.
Chelios said he would rejoin the team when the time is right.
The restaurant was opening Thursday for the first time since the stabbings.
Victim told Chelios about fight before double slaying
By Ben Schmitt and Amber Hunt / FREE PRESS STAFF WRITERS
By Ben Schmitt and Amber Hunt / FREE PRESS STAFF WRITERS
Detroit Red Wings defenseman Chris Chelios was on the phone with his restaurant’s manager minutes before a former employee
stabbed her to death, according to a police report obtained by the Free Press today.
Megan Soroka, a 49-year-old manager at Cheli’s Chili Bar in downtown Detroit, reportedly told Chelios at 8:48 a.m. Tuesday that she
heard another coworker, Mark Barnard, fighting with someone and she “was going to check on him.”
Police say 17-year-old Justin Blackshear of Detroit confessed to stabbing Barnard, 52, of Detroit and Soroka of Dearborn to death
around 8:50 a.m., before stealing money from an open safe, according to the report.
"Personally and professionally, this has been very difficult," an emotional Chelios said during a brief press conference at Detroit Police
headquarters today. "You never imagine something like this will happen."
Police say Blackshear was fired about a month ago from the bar and killed the victims with a kitchen knife.
Soroka and Barnard were good employees, he added, "but more importantly, they were part of my family."
Both victims were stabbed multiple times and found dead on the second floor of the bar and restaurant on Adams, near Comerica
Park. The downtown restaurant will open for lunch today. That's what Soroka and Barnard would have wanted, Chelios said.
"They were proud of what we have built here, proud of the business and of what they helped build here. So, as difficult as it will be, we
have realized that this was an isolated and senseless incident and we have got to start putting the pieces back together."
Soroka and Barnard worked at the Cheli's in Dearborn before switching to the Detroit location, which opened in 2005.
Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said the deaths were "truly disturbing" in a Wednesday statement.
According to court records, Blackshear pleaded guilty at age 13 to first-degree criminal sexual conduct. The case was dismissed after
he attended therapy, provided copies of report cards to the court and had nearly perfect attendance at school.
stabbed her to death, according to a police report obtained by the Free Press today.
Megan Soroka, a 49-year-old manager at Cheli’s Chili Bar in downtown Detroit, reportedly told Chelios at 8:48 a.m. Tuesday that she
heard another coworker, Mark Barnard, fighting with someone and she “was going to check on him.”
Police say 17-year-old Justin Blackshear of Detroit confessed to stabbing Barnard, 52, of Detroit and Soroka of Dearborn to death
around 8:50 a.m., before stealing money from an open safe, according to the report.
"Personally and professionally, this has been very difficult," an emotional Chelios said during a brief press conference at Detroit Police
headquarters today. "You never imagine something like this will happen."
Police say Blackshear was fired about a month ago from the bar and killed the victims with a kitchen knife.
Soroka and Barnard were good employees, he added, "but more importantly, they were part of my family."
Both victims were stabbed multiple times and found dead on the second floor of the bar and restaurant on Adams, near Comerica
Park. The downtown restaurant will open for lunch today. That's what Soroka and Barnard would have wanted, Chelios said.
"They were proud of what we have built here, proud of the business and of what they helped build here. So, as difficult as it will be, we
have realized that this was an isolated and senseless incident and we have got to start putting the pieces back together."
Soroka and Barnard worked at the Cheli's in Dearborn before switching to the Detroit location, which opened in 2005.
Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said the deaths were "truly disturbing" in a Wednesday statement.
According to court records, Blackshear pleaded guilty at age 13 to first-degree criminal sexual conduct. The case was dismissed after
he attended therapy, provided copies of report cards to the court and had nearly perfect attendance at school.
Friends, family reeling after deaths at Cheli's
By Ben Schmitt and Amber Hunt / FREE PRESS STAFF WRITERS
By Ben Schmitt and Amber Hunt / FREE PRESS STAFF WRITERS
A 17-year-old former employee of Cheli's Chili Bar was in custody Tuesday -- the prime suspect, police said, in
a double slaying that reportedly began as a fight, then turned into a pair of stabbings at the popular Detroit spot
owned by Red Wings defenseman Chris Chelios.
Mark Barnard, 52, of Detroit and Megan Soroka, 49, of Dearborn, employees at the restaurant located outside
Comerica Park, were killed about 9 a.m. Tuesday, police said.
Police spokesman James Tate said the suspect, described as a disgruntled employee who was fired about a
month ago, could be arraigned on murder charges as early as this morning.
The Detroit resident was arrested without incident at a home on the city's west side.
According to police who interviewed employees Tuesday, he went to the restaurant Tuesday morning and
fought with Barnard, the kitchen manager. It was unclear what the argument was about. He stabbed Soroka
when she tried to intervene, they said.
Police said the former employee took money from an open safe. Police searched two Detroit homes the
suspect was known to frequent, and officers seized up to $10,000 bound in paper bands marked "Cheli's." The
weapon has not been recovered.
Employees told police they recognized the suspect as he ran out of the restaurant.
"We have no idea why anyone would do this to such a kind, gentle man," said Cheryl Niedermeyer-Bedford of
Dearborn Heights, whose mother, Pat Niedermeyer, lived with Barnard and had been involved with him for 23
years.
"He was like a duck," she said. "Everything rolled off his back like water."
Pat Niedermeyer said Barnard left for work about 7:15 a.m. and asked for a kiss good-bye.
"He always said, 'Because you never know what could happen,' " she said. He called when he got to work to say
he was OK, she added.
Niedermeyer, her daughters and Barnard's family spent Tuesday morning trying to learn whether he was
among those killed after news of the stabbings broke. They repeatedly called Barnard's cell phone; he never
answered.
They didn't learn for sure, Niedermeyer-Bedford said, until the head cook for Cheli's arrived at their Detroit
doorstep about 2 p.m.
Meanwhile, Soroka's husband, Christopher, got a phone call early Tuesday as he began opening his own
establishment -- the Bar on Michigan Avenue in Dearborn.
Roland Kinney, 67, who was at the Bar at the time, said Christopher Soroka then rushed out: "He just said
somebody was hurt." .
Also at the Bar was Soroka's friend Michael Mortada, 27. "That woman is his life," he said, his voice shaking.
Bar employees and patrons said the Sorokas were longtime friends of Chelios. An autographed picture from a
recent Christmas party hanging at the Bar shows a smiling Christopher Soroka with Chelios. The note reads:
"To Topher -- All the best."
George Soroka, Megan Soroka's brother-in-law, said she was an integral part in Chelios opening his downtown
location. Chelios also has a restaurant in Dearborn, which closed Tuesday because of the stabbings. By
mid-afternoon, a floral arrangement stood outside that restaurant's closed doors with a balloon that said, "You'll
Be Missed."
Soroka and Barnard had worked at the Dearborn restaurant before moving to the downtown location, their family
members said.
"They were good friends," George Soroka said of his sister-in-law and Chelios. "She was integral in starting the
downtown Cheli's. She was very outgoing, very sweet."
Chelios opened the Detroit restaurant in 2005, and it quickly became a hot spot for downtown sports fans --
especially during big events, such as the Super Bowl and the Detroit Tigers' playoff run.
A giant banner hung on the side of the building, thanking Red Wings icon Steve Yzerman and bearing his
number, 19, which was retired Tuesday night.
"We are deeply saddened by the tragedy that occurred at our establishment this morning," Chelios said in a
statement Tuesday. "Our hearts go out to the families of the victims -- they were wonderful employees and were
part of our family."
Lynne Woodison of the "JJ & Lynne Morning Show" on WCSX-FM (94.7) said she got to know Megan Soroka
through Chelios, who usually talks on the show.
"Megan was just a delightful person," she said through tears Tuesday night. "She was just this ball of energy.
You couldn't help but like her."
She said the workers were like family, and that everyone was preparing for a big party Tuesday night after
Yzerman's jersey number was retired.
Chelios' teammate Kirk Maltby said he was shocked.
"Whatever happened, it's awful," he said. "What do you say? ... Hopefully, whoever did it comes to justice."
Justice is what the victims' families are asking for now, too.
"How can anybody do this?" asked Barnard's sister, 51-year-old Juanita Philpott, through tears. "He never gave
anybody any problems. I don't understand any of this."
a double slaying that reportedly began as a fight, then turned into a pair of stabbings at the popular Detroit spot
owned by Red Wings defenseman Chris Chelios.
Mark Barnard, 52, of Detroit and Megan Soroka, 49, of Dearborn, employees at the restaurant located outside
Comerica Park, were killed about 9 a.m. Tuesday, police said.
Police spokesman James Tate said the suspect, described as a disgruntled employee who was fired about a
month ago, could be arraigned on murder charges as early as this morning.
The Detroit resident was arrested without incident at a home on the city's west side.
According to police who interviewed employees Tuesday, he went to the restaurant Tuesday morning and
fought with Barnard, the kitchen manager. It was unclear what the argument was about. He stabbed Soroka
when she tried to intervene, they said.
Police said the former employee took money from an open safe. Police searched two Detroit homes the
suspect was known to frequent, and officers seized up to $10,000 bound in paper bands marked "Cheli's." The
weapon has not been recovered.
Employees told police they recognized the suspect as he ran out of the restaurant.
"We have no idea why anyone would do this to such a kind, gentle man," said Cheryl Niedermeyer-Bedford of
Dearborn Heights, whose mother, Pat Niedermeyer, lived with Barnard and had been involved with him for 23
years.
"He was like a duck," she said. "Everything rolled off his back like water."
Pat Niedermeyer said Barnard left for work about 7:15 a.m. and asked for a kiss good-bye.
"He always said, 'Because you never know what could happen,' " she said. He called when he got to work to say
he was OK, she added.
Niedermeyer, her daughters and Barnard's family spent Tuesday morning trying to learn whether he was
among those killed after news of the stabbings broke. They repeatedly called Barnard's cell phone; he never
answered.
They didn't learn for sure, Niedermeyer-Bedford said, until the head cook for Cheli's arrived at their Detroit
doorstep about 2 p.m.
Meanwhile, Soroka's husband, Christopher, got a phone call early Tuesday as he began opening his own
establishment -- the Bar on Michigan Avenue in Dearborn.
Roland Kinney, 67, who was at the Bar at the time, said Christopher Soroka then rushed out: "He just said
somebody was hurt." .
Also at the Bar was Soroka's friend Michael Mortada, 27. "That woman is his life," he said, his voice shaking.
Bar employees and patrons said the Sorokas were longtime friends of Chelios. An autographed picture from a
recent Christmas party hanging at the Bar shows a smiling Christopher Soroka with Chelios. The note reads:
"To Topher -- All the best."
George Soroka, Megan Soroka's brother-in-law, said she was an integral part in Chelios opening his downtown
location. Chelios also has a restaurant in Dearborn, which closed Tuesday because of the stabbings. By
mid-afternoon, a floral arrangement stood outside that restaurant's closed doors with a balloon that said, "You'll
Be Missed."
Soroka and Barnard had worked at the Dearborn restaurant before moving to the downtown location, their family
members said.
"They were good friends," George Soroka said of his sister-in-law and Chelios. "She was integral in starting the
downtown Cheli's. She was very outgoing, very sweet."
Chelios opened the Detroit restaurant in 2005, and it quickly became a hot spot for downtown sports fans --
especially during big events, such as the Super Bowl and the Detroit Tigers' playoff run.
A giant banner hung on the side of the building, thanking Red Wings icon Steve Yzerman and bearing his
number, 19, which was retired Tuesday night.
"We are deeply saddened by the tragedy that occurred at our establishment this morning," Chelios said in a
statement Tuesday. "Our hearts go out to the families of the victims -- they were wonderful employees and were
part of our family."
Lynne Woodison of the "JJ & Lynne Morning Show" on WCSX-FM (94.7) said she got to know Megan Soroka
through Chelios, who usually talks on the show.
"Megan was just a delightful person," she said through tears Tuesday night. "She was just this ball of energy.
You couldn't help but like her."
She said the workers were like family, and that everyone was preparing for a big party Tuesday night after
Yzerman's jersey number was retired.
Chelios' teammate Kirk Maltby said he was shocked.
"Whatever happened, it's awful," he said. "What do you say? ... Hopefully, whoever did it comes to justice."
Justice is what the victims' families are asking for now, too.
"How can anybody do this?" asked Barnard's sister, 51-year-old Juanita Philpott, through tears. "He never gave
anybody any problems. I don't understand any of this."
| One of the victims, Mark Barnard of Detroit, takes a break from preparing food to talk with Chris Chelios in Dearborn in October 2003. An angry ex-employee is blamed for Barnard's death. |
| Detroit Red Wings defenseman Chris Chelios stands with Detroit PoliceChief Ella Bully-Cummings at the Detroit police headquarters. Chelios met with the media describing for the first time in public the sorrow he felt upon learning that two employees of his downtown eatery had been stabbed to death. |
| Justin Blackshear, 17, of Detroit. A former employee of Cheli's Bar in downtown Detroit. |