I.) Less We Forget

Transexual Found Slain In Suburban Motel
Police Looking For Killer

POSTED: 2:40 pm CDT April 19, 2006
UPDATED: 5:31 pm CDT April 19, 2006

CHICAGO -- Autopsy results confirmed that a 31-year-old Michigan
transsexual found Tuesday in a Motel 6 in Elk Grove Village was a
homicide victim.

Krystal Heskin, 31, of 6819 Meadow Ave. in Warren, Mich., died as a
result of craniocerebral injuries and blunt force trauma to the
head, the Cook County Medical Examiner's office said after an
autopsy on Wednesday. Heskin was pronounced dead at 12:40 a.m.
Tuesday at the Stein Institute, according to a an office spokeswoman.

No one was in custody for the murder as of early Wednesday
afternoon, Elk Grove Village police said.

Heskin was found dead at 1 p.m. Tuesday at the Motel 6 at 1601
Oakton St., Elk Grove Village police Chief Stephen Schmidt said.
Hotel workers called police after finding Heskin dead on the bed,
fully clothed, Schmidt said, and added that the body was not badly
decomposed.


While the medical examiner's report noted the victim as a white
male, police are referring to the victim as a woman.

The deceased "has male anatomy, but also has female anatomy, and has
been referred to as a she, Krystal," Schmidt said.

No weapon has been recovered and it did not seem that Heskin's room
had been broken into, Schmidt said. It was not immediately clear if
anything had been stolen from the room, he added.

The victim had been living at the Motel 6 for about six months,
Schmidt said, though he did not know what Heskin did for a living.

"We are following up with a couple of different friends of
Heskin's," Schmidt said.

Tests were being conducted to determine if Heskin had been sexually
attacked, Schmidt said.

Copyright 2006, Chicago Sun-Times Inc.