Employee in Custody after CEO Found Murdered

Crestwood, IL (WorkersCompensation.com) – An employee has been arrested in the death of a trucking company CEO, officials said.

Police said they responded to a report of heavy smoke coming from ATG Truckload in Crestwood on March 5. Once on site, police said they found the CEO of the trucking company inside, dead. A long-time employee was their suspect.

Firefighters said they found Dane Koteski, 46, on the second floor of the building. Koteski was the company's CEO. His death was quickly ruled a homicide, and police said they’ve begun an arson investigation into the fire.

"The fire was put out quickly. There was a large amount of smoke. We cleared out the smoke, and the focus became the investigation of the body. Investigators determined the victim was the owner of the company: 46-year-old Dane Koteski. An autopsy later determined Koteski's neck was slashed with a knife," Crestwood Police Chief Kevin Sisk said.

Police said they believe Koteski’s death was a targeted attack. By 5:15 a.m. Thursday, March 13, police had arrested Josif Suclea, 52 of Scottsdale, Arizona at a truck stop in Michigan, police said.

"They fairly quickly developed a suspect, and then it was later that night, actually the next day about 5:15 a.m., the suspect was taken into custody about 2 1/2 hours away in Holland, Michigan," Sisk said.

Suclea was extradited back to Illinois, and on March 16, he was charged with first-degree murder.

Investigators said it wasn’t clear where the suspect may have been headed, or what his motive was.

The Cook County Medical Examiner said Koteski died from a stab wound to the neck. Friends said Koteski had worked in trucking for many years. A GoFundMe campaign to raise money for the family for funeral expenses and living expenses, as well as to raise money for Koteski’s son, Kiko’s education. As of March 16, the campaign had raised more than $100,000.

Nick Dimitrov, who worked with Koteski for many years, said Koteski was a teacher as well as a leader.

"The stuff I learned, I learned from him. He was helping people in the community anywhere he can, one of the well-respected guys in the community," Dimitrov said.

The killing is the latest attack since the brutal murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in December of last year.

Luigi Mangione was arrested in December for the attack on Thompson. Mangione allegedly shot Thompson in the back as Thompson was walking to a conference for UnitedHealthcare stockholders. After a nationwide manhunt, Mangione was arrested at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Penn., when a McDonald’s employee recognized him.

Within days of Mangione’s arrest, another shooter was identified outside of the Oregon home of Chip Terhune, president and CEO of SAIF, the state’s largest provider of workers’ compensation insurance.

According to the Lake Oswego Police Department in Oregon said the shooter fired at Terhune’s home, and that "during the investigation, officers discovered damage to a front door of a home that was caused by gunfire. Fortunately, there were no injuries and only minor damage to the home."

The suspect was identified because of surveillance video and was wearing all dark clothes with a hoodie or ski mask, carrying a light-colored object in his hand.

"Lake Oswego Police believe this was a targeted incident and do not believe there is an ongoing threat to the community," the department said at the time.

Terhune had previously shared with his neighbors that on the day of the incident, Terhune said he awoke around 4 a.m. to what he thought were rocks being thrown at his window.

"It became immediately apparent that no rocks were thrown but rather 3 bullets had been fired through my front door windows into my home," Terhune told the Oregon Journal Press. "[Name redacted] apparently reported to the police that she saw an individual dressed in black with a ski mask running away from my house and down the street."

Terhune also told his employees about the attack.

"We have received an email threat purporting to be from the person(s) responsible," Terhune wrote in an email to his staff after the incident. "Although it does not target any specific employee, the email references knowledge of employee and relatives' names and addresses."

"Law enforcement is working diligently to investigate this matter and asked that we not share any additional specific information about the actual email," the CEO said.

Days after those incidents, a Michigan man was placed in custody after allegedly stabbing the president of the company he worked for.

According to the police, Nathan Mahoney, 32, had been an employee of a Fruitport Township, Mich.-based Anderson Express, Inc. an automotive manufacturing company, for two weeks. Mahoney had been working in an accounting role. On the day of the attack, Mahoney was in a staff meeting with his boss Erik Denslow on Dec. 17.

Witnesses said Mahoney stepped out of the room for a moment, then came back into the meeting and stabbed Denslow with a “red-handled” knife. Mahoney fled the scene before police could arrive but was apprehended in a neighboring city.

Officials at the time felt like the attack had been a copycat killing based on Mangione’s attack.

In the wake of Mangione’s attack, companies in the health insurance industry drastically altered their websites by taking down photos of C-level executives, as well as amping up personal security for higher level employees.

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