Daniel Olaska is on trial, which started on Monday, March 2, for fatally stabbing NCC alumnus Shaun Wild and stabbing two others on Feb. 4, 2012.
Following his arrest in 2012, Olaska was charged with first-degree murder for killing Wild and two counts of attempted murder of Wild’s friend and a bar employee.
According to the Daily Herald, Olaska has pleaded not guilty for the three stabbings. His attorney’s seek to prove that Olaska acted out in self-defense and will try to reveal evidence that lessens Olaska’s actions from that night in 2012.
The self-defense case does not mean that Olaska is required to testify, however his attorney, Ernest DiBenedetto, is still deciding if Olaska will testify his own defense at the trial.
The DuPage County prosecutors argue for convicting and charging Olaska for first-degree murder for the death of Wild.
According to the Naperville Sun, Judge Creswell ruled that Olaska’s testimony could be admitted to trial on Friday, Feb. 27. The jury was selected on Monday, March 2. The opening statement soon followed after the selection of the jury.
Olaska’s trial is expected to last about a week.
Wild, who was 24-years-old in 2012, was a 2011 graduate from North Central and was a second-grade teacher at a Naperville elementary school. On Feb. 4, 2012 Wild and William Hayes, a North Central senior in 2012, went to Frankie’s Blue Room for a night out. Olaska, who worked as a manager at Schaumburg Regional Airport, was also at Frankie’s with his friends.
According to the Naperville Sun Olaska and Hayes ended up at the same table during the night. According to the police, Olaska mocked Hayes for wearing a tight t-shirt while drinking, and Hayes made a snide comment about Olaska drinking beer out of a wine glass. Wild tried to calm the two men down, but things escalated quickly from there.
Feeling that he was being mocked, Olaska pulled out a five-inch folding knife, cut Wild on the arm and stabbed Hayes in the chest. Olaska then fatally stabbed Wild in the chest after Wild tried to stop Olaska from leaving the bar. A bar employee, Rafael Castaneda, attempted to step in as well and was stabbed in the arm by Olaska.
Hayes and Castaneda were taken to the hospital. Hayes was placed in intensive care after being stabbed in the chest. Both Hayes and Castaneda have made a full recovery since then. Wild passed away after Olaska stabbed him in the heart when trying to flee the bar.
Olaska was arrested shortly after the event by Naperville police and confessed to the crime and was held in DuPage County Jail since 2012. According to the Naperville Sun, Olaska was held with a $3 million bail. However, the judge revoked the bail after prosecutors presented information on the incident with the bar patron who stated he was threatened by Olaska while he attempted to flee.
