Terrence Knox, 1947-2011

Former cop never gave up search for fugitive who shot him

May 08, 2011|By Andy Grimm, Tribune reporter

Terrence Knox didn't have a long career as a Chicago police officer, but he considered himself a cop his entire life, former Superintendent Phil Cline said.

Mr. Knox was shot three times by a 19-year-old he suspected was a truant on Chicago's South Side in 1969.

When the suspect, Joseph Pannell, jumped bail in 1971, Knox found him and arrested him in 1973. Pannell went on the lam again, and Knox, who retired from the force in 1977, became an advocate for the rights of crime victims and wounded officers.

He also never gave up the search for Pannell.

"He just said: 'You know, this guy is still at large and it would help me get some closure,'" Cline said Sunday. "He still considered himself a part of the Chicago Police Department, and we considered him part of it."

Mr. Knox, 63, died Sunday, May 8, of a prolonged illness, a funeral home official said, but not before he saw Pannell serve jail time in a plea deal that also raised money for the families of wounded police officers.

In 2004, he was a successful executive for AT&T when he approached Cline about reopening the search for Pannell. Cline assigned the matter to a cold case squad, and within months, investigators found Pannell living under the alias Douglas Freeman, in Toronto.

After Pannell was extradited to the U.S. to face attempted murder and aggravated battery charges, Mr. Knox helped broker an unusual plea deal: Pannell would serve 30 days in jail and donate $250,000 from his legal defense fund to the Chicago Police Memorial Fund. It was the largest donation ever received by the organization, which funds school tuition for the children of injured and slain police officers.

Pannell, who married, had children and worked for more than 20 years as a reference librarian in Toronto, never directly apologized to Mr. Knox for the shooting.

On March 7, 1969, Mr. Knox said he walked up to the then-19-year-old Pannell near 76th Avenue and Drexel Boulevard and asked the teen why he wasn't in school. Pannell opened fire, Knox said.

In a prepared statement in 2008, Pannell said, "I wish the events which led to Mr. Knox's injuries had never occurred. … It was an American tragedy. By this plea, I accept responsibility for the part I played in that tragedy."

Canadian officials would not allow Pannell back into the country following his release. In addition to his 30-day sentence, Pannell also spent more than six years in police custody in Canada and Cook County.

Mr. Knox claimed he suffered from illnesses beyond the limited use of his wounded arm, likely caused by "bad blood transfusions," Cline said.

While he was successful after his police career ended, Mr. Knox realized many seriously injured officers can never return to police work or other jobs, Cline said.

Mr. Knox pursued causes to help officers wounded in the line of duty, and he lobbied for legislation that would make it harder for violent offenders with a history of skipping bail to be released before trial.

When the plea deal with Pannell was announced in 2008, Mr. Knox struck a pragmatic tone in interviews.

"The easy thing would be to put him in jail," he told reporters. "Adios. Goodbye. But nothing good would come out of that."

Services are pending.