A 53-year-old man was apparently stabbed to death by a family member following an argument Tuesday evening at a Northwest Side apartment the two shared, police said.
Officers were called to the 3900 block of Long Avenue, where they found Jim Haarman stabbed to death about 6:20 p.m., authorities said.
Investigators released few details about Haarman’s death, though police did say that he was stabbed multiple times by a male family member following an argument at their Portage Park neighborhood apartment.
The family member was in police custody but had not been charged early Wednesday morning.
Ed Boone, a neighbor who lives in the garden unit below where the fatal stabbing occurred, said he had heard arguments, loud noises and swearing from Haarman’s apartment several times a week, but that had stopped about four weeks ago after neighbors complained.
But on Tuesday evening, Boone said: “I heard fighting and swearing.”
Then he then looked outside and saw the family member smeared with blood.
Boone said he initially turned his TV down and thought about going upstairs during the fight, but he decided not to intervene. Asked if he regretted his decision, Boone said, “Kind of, but, then again, I’m not sure because of the possibility that … maybe [the attacker] would have tried to take me out.”
Karen Kerber, who lives upstairs, got home about 5:30 p.m. and heard a voice yelling from the apartment where the stabbing occurred. “I just thought, ‘Here we go again.’ ”
“I’m just in shock. I can’t believe it,” Kerber said about the killing.
“Jim was such a nice guy who went out of his way to help us. He was always helping my daughter with her car, if her tires were low or if he was washing his car he’d wash her car too. And he’d call to remind us about street cleaning,” she said.