CHICAGO _ A Cook County judge granted bail Monday to an ex-Marine accused of fatally stabbing a man outside Richard's Bar in Chicago's West Town neighborhood last month.
Thomas Tansey, 30, faces first-degree murder charges in the Feb. 21 death of barista Kenneth Paterimos. Tansey had been ordered held without bail earlier this month, but a judge now says he can be released from Cook County Jail if he posts 10% of $250,000, according to court records.
But Judge John F. Lyke Jr. ordered that Tansey be fitted with an ankle monitor and comply with special conditions of his bail, which often includes having no contact with witnesses.
Prosecutors said Paterimos had been at the bar celebrating with his brother and friends when he and Tansey began fighting. "(Tansey) was severely intoxicated and was bumping into people inside the bar," prosecutors said in a court document. He and Paterimos started punching each other and both fell to the floor, according to the document. "From all witnesses interviewed, it is unclear who started the fight."
Tansey left the bar and Paterimos followed, and the pair continued trading blows outside. As a friend of Paterimos' pulled him off, prosecutors said Tansey pulled a box cutter and stabbed Paterimos in the back of the head, right ear, middle back, right collar bone and right arm.
The last wound severed an artery and caused Paterimos to bleed to death, authorities said.
At Tansey's initial hearing, Judge Charles S. Beach II denied bail after casting doubt on claims from Tansey's attorney that the stabbing of the smaller, unarmed Paterimos occurred as a result of self-defense.
Tansey's attorney argued that his client was attacked and followed outside by Paterimos. He said the media spotlight and false social media claims against his client put pressure on prosecutors to file criminal charges.
Both sides are scheduled to return to court April 2.
