Notes confirm suspicions of Trolley Square victim's family

Editor's note: This story was originally published May 15, 2009.

 

Newly released FBI documents say Sulejman Talovic told a coworker he wanted a gun to commit a bank robbery.

The statement corroborates an argument made by the parents of a Trolley Square victim Vanessa Quinn. Sue and Ken Antrobus have said one of the people who sold Talovic a .38-caliber pistol knew Talovic was going to use it to commit a crime.

The couple used the argument in asking for a say in the sentencing of Mackenzie Glade Hunter, who illegally sold the pistol to Talovic. The Antrobuses wanted copies of reports from the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives that mentioned the robbery plans so they could

use them as evidence.

The federal sentencing judge and appeal courts held the Atrobuses were not victims of the gun transaction and had no standing to speak at Hunter's sentencing.

"I find it a striking coincidence just a couple weeks after our appeals were exhausted the documents were released," said Paul Cassell, who represented the Antrobuses.

The Tribune received the FBI documents May 8 --- almost two years after requesting them through open records laws.

Notes from a March 20, 2007, FBI interview with one of Talovic's co-workers say Talovic inquired about buying a gun. Talovic told the co-worker he "wanted the gun in order to rob a bank," the notes say.

The FBI removed the co-worker's

name from the report, but the description matches Hunter, who worked on a demolition job with Talovic.

Hunter pleaded guilty to two charges related to the illegal sale and received a 15-month prison sentence. Hunter has completed the prison sentence and is on the federal version of parole.

Quinn was the only person Talovic shot with the pistol. Talovic used a shotgun to kill or wound his other victims.

"This was not a routine illegal gun sale," Cassell said. "This was a gun sale that lead to the death of multiple people."

ncarlisle@sltrib.com