$5 Million Bail For Man Charged In Fatal Evergreen Park Stabbing

CHICAGO (STMW) -- Bail was set at $5 million Tuesday for a Minooka man charged with stabbing a Chicago man to death early Sunday after they got into an argument at a party in southwest suburban Evergreen Park.

Patrick J. Tantillo, 39, is charged with first-degree murder in the death of Lucian Nicolaescu, police said Monday. He appeared Tuesday morning at the Cook County courthouse in Bridgeview, where Circuit Court Judge Kerry Kennedy set bail.

Tantillo has prior convictions on drug-related charges in 1999, 2003 and 2005, according to court records. He is next due in court Sept. 10.

Nicolaescu, 31, of the 4800 block of North Winthrop Avenue, got into an argument with Tantillo about 1 a.m. in the back yard of a house in the 9300 block of Springfield Avenue, according to police. The argument "escalated and resulted in the victim being stabbed," police said.

Nicolaescu was taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he was pronounced dead at 8:12 a.m., authorities said.

An autopsy on Monday found that he died of a stab wound to the torso, and ruled his death a homicide, the Cook County medical examiner's office said.

Tantillo, of the 1400 block of Plantain Drive, was arrested at the scene, and the weapon used to stab Nicolaescu was found in a neighboring yard, police said. They did not report what type of weapon was involved.