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RiP: Bears fan stabbed in Jax upscale restuarant.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-reports-lake-villa-man-stabbed-to-death-in-jacksonville-20121007,0,126406.storyBy
Carlos Sadovi Tribune reporter
7:30 a.m.
CDT, October
8, 2012
Shortly before leaving on a
flight from Milwaukee Friday to attend the Bears game in Jacksonville Fla.,
William Christopher Pettry posted "GO BEARS!" on his Facebook
page.
Pettry was excited to be making the trip with his best friend,
according to his cousin, Quincy Asbury Jr. Pettry was an avid Bears fan who was
too busy working at his construction and remodeling company and helping raise
his three children to find time to go to games in Chicago, Asbury said.
Lake Villa man in Jacksonville
Pettry, 42, of Lake Villa was fatally
stabbed early Sunday morning inside a restaurant where he had gathered with a
group of other Bears fans, Asbury said.
"He was such a huge Bears fan. .
.He never got to go to the Bears game, he never got to enjoy it," said Asbury,
who can't understand how anyone would want to hurt him. "He was always the guy
that made you laugh."
Pettry was stabbed at Fionn MacCools, an upscale
Irish restaurant about a block from the hotel where he was staying -- the same
hotel where the Bears team was also staying.
Asbury, a River Grove police
officer, said he spoke with Pettry's best friend after the stabbing and said he
still doesn't understand what happened.
Pettry and the friend were with a
large group of Bears fans enjoying the evening, the friend told Asbury. At the
end of the night, Pettry got up to go to the bathroom and promised to return
with a round of drinks.
At some point Pettry stepped out to an outdoor
patio, the friend told Asbury. The friend said a waitress came up to the table
and said Pettry had been hurt.
"They didn't know what to tell him. They
told him, 'Your friend isn't feeling well.' (The friend) went up to the front
and he (Pettry) was on the floor and it was over," Asbury said.
"I'm
still at a loss as to how he goes from the washroom to get another round to. .
.he never made it back."
Police said in a press release that Pettry was
involved in a "disturbance" with two other people shortly before 2 a.m. at the
restaurant in Jacksonville Landing. Matthew Hinson, 28, of Jacksonville was
arrested and charged Sunday evening.
On her Facebook page, Pettry's wife
Karen said she was shocked by the news and searching for answers.
"I'm so
numb and I still can not believe it is true," wrote Karen Pettry. "Today my
husband William Christopher Pettry (Most of you only know him by Chris) was
taken from his family way too early."
"Some idiot has taken his life. Im
so mad, just don't understand why, very lost right now," she wrote. "Please hug
the ones you love because you never know if tomorrow you will have that chance."
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/l...0,126406.story
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Unbelievable.
I know we had a member from here who was going to the game, though I thought he (our member) was from Minnesota. I hope it wasn't our member, not that anyone deserves to die for being a fan of a GAME.

Winston Churchill:
"Since light travels faster than sound, some people appear bright until you hear them speak."
"If you're not a liberal at twenty you have no heart, if you're not a conservative at forty you have no brain."
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I really thought about not adding this here; it's not definate that he was stabbed for being a Bears fan in Jax; but when you read the article it definately comes off that way.
I didn't know this guy in any shape way or form, but I'm deeply saddened by this; it bothers me greatly that this group was not in some dive bar at 2-3am, but at a nice restuarant(albeit still 2-3 am) and this happened. Way to many meatheads out there to ever truly be happy and relaxed going to games that are not your teams home games.
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Yup, it does come off that way. Like maybe he's with all his buds, just jawin' about how his Bears took it to the Jags, yada... and some local gets offended and confronts him. You all can probably play out any number of scenarios.
But it all comes down to one point (if this is the case); if you're so controlled by a sports game that a deathly confrontation takes place...
You're a complete tool. The perennial jagbag. Even if no one dies, you're flawed.
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I've seen some shitty behavior at games, away and home.
While at a game in Washington DC, walking into the stadium w/ about 80,000 people all at the same time, I had a dude get in my face (as in less than 3 inches), yelling and screaming at me about how much of a pussy Walter Payton was for dieing from AIDS. Seriously, spittle flying, trying to get me to react. There was no room to change direction, as everyone was funnelling into the gates. Thankfully, I was with a few Skins fans who quickly responded (verbally) that Payton was a stud and he better shut up, and rowdy fans friends eventually pulled him away from me, but it was definitely intimidating. His friends did apologize, but it just goes to show you that all I had to be doing was wearing an opposing jersey and it was enough to start something.
I've bounced in bars for years (not currently), so I had my plan of attack if it got physical (foot stomp to inside of opponents opposite knee, right upper cut to stomach on his way down, left cross to jaw), but I knew full well if that happened, I would likely end up trampled and possibly dead in a huge meelee.

Winston Churchill:
"Since light travels faster than sound, some people appear bright until you hear them speak."
"If you're not a liberal at twenty you have no heart, if you're not a conservative at forty you have no brain."
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We don't have the whole story yet but from what we do have it seems pretty clear that he got into it with a Jags fan who took offense to his team getting it's ass handed to them so instead of taking his frustrations out somewhere else he does it this way. Stupid is as stupid does.
I guess the scary thing, like Ric points out, is that this didn't happen during a drug deal gone bad in the crack district it happened in the bar of a nice hotel where most people would feel relatively safe to party with their friends. The world gets crazier with each passing day.
So now a wife loses her husband and her children lose their father and another man will spend most of his life in prison over what? Resentment over a guy simple celebrating the fact that his team one an NFL game. I love football but man this is too much.
I guess we'll find out more but for all we know the guy who knifed him could have been the same guy sitting two rows away from his at the game. He could have been your neighbor or mine or the guy who runs the local auto parts store. That's the scary thing. Their are idiots like that running around armed with knives and guns with a very short fuse and willing to use them if provoked.
What a tragedy......wow.
I'm getting to that age where a lifetime warranty just doesn't mean as much to me anymore as an afternoon nap.
Honey Badger Don't Care. Honey Badger Don't Give a Shit.
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Sad thing really.. Knifes are supposed to be in the kitchen..
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R.I.P. No one should ever kill someone for something as petty as being a fan of x sports team. There's no sense in it at all. I'm guessing more than a little alcohol was involved.
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It had nothing to do with the outcome of the game because the article says it happened Sunday morning. Regardless, it's awful if it really just came down to a rivalry between fans of a game. A life lost is always tragic, but for it to be potentially over something so petty is just sickening.
Last edited by Papa Bear; 10-08-2012 at 10:30 AM.
"Give 100%. 110% is impossible. Only idiots recommend that." - Ron Swanson
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They made an arrest.
LINK to the article Man Accused Of Stabbing Bears Fan Charged With Murder
Matthew Hinson, charged with murder. (Credit: Jacksonville Police)
CHICAGO (CBS) — The man accused of slashing the throat of a Bears fan attending the game in Jacksonville over the weekend appeared in court today, charged with murder.
Matthew Hinson, 27, stabbed William Pettry, 42, inside Fioon MacCool’s Irish Pub on Sunday afternoon, about three hours before the Bears played the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Several witnesses saw the attack. Afterward, Hinson placed the bloody knife and walked out of the restaurant. Officers located the suspect in a vehicle a short time later.
When interviewed by detectives, Hinson admitted to the stabbing.

William Christopher Pettry, 42, died after an altercation in Jacksonville, Fla. (Facebook)
Police said Pettry, of Lake Villa, was involved in a disturbance with two other people inside a restaurant. He died from his injuries. Pettry’s aunt, Lillie Asbury of Chicago, said her nephew, who was known as Chris, did nothing wrong. “He didn’t harass anyone. He didn’t have any confrontation with anyone,” she told CBS 2’s Dana Kozlov. Asbury believes the man came to the bar after friends called him about his wife, who was reportedly there, too.
“They both sat down and the guy just pulled out a knife and stabbed him — just like that,” she said. “And he told the police, when asked, ‘Why did you stab this man?’, he said, ‘I don’t know.’ ”
The bar was near the hotel where Pettry and a close friend were staying to attend Sunday’s Bears game.
Pettry, a contractor, was the married father of three children who range in age from 15 to five and was a huge Bears fan, relatives said. Asbury said her nephew rarely took a vacation — until this weekend.
“He was so happy. He posted on Facebook, ‘I’m off to see the Bears play,’ ” she said.
Last edited by JustAnotherBearsFan99; 10-08-2012 at 10:37 AM.
Brian Urlacher
Thanks For The Memories