Cop is killer, not marijuana dealer

A defense attorney for a marijuana dealer charged with killing and burying a man because he stole his money pointed to Chicago Police officer Jerome Finnigan as the man who pulled the trigger.

Finnigan, formerly of the police Special Operations Section, shot Eric Kaminski three times in the head on Feb. 4, 2004 after Daniel Nevarez told him Kaminski stole $40,000 of cash and two kilograms of marijuana from his home, Stuart Goldberg claimed during his opening statement’s at Nevarez’s murder trial this afternoon.

“Jerome Finnigan, supervising officer of the S.O.S. commanding team was the murderer of the victim in this case,” Goldberg said.

“It was Jerome Finnigan who ended Eric Kaminski’s life.”

Nevarez, 27, had been paying off Finnigan $3,500 a month to keep him from getting arrested, Goldberg said.

And when the money disappeared, Nevarez allegedly told Finnigan he couldn’t pay him. So Finnigan met with Kaminski, 25, in a building Nevarez’s father owns, in the 2200 block of West Coulter, and shot him, Goldberg said.

Finnigan has been charged along with other members of the now-disbanded Special Operations Section of falsely arresting and robbing people. Finnigan is also charged in federal court with plotting to kill a fellow officer, Keith Herrera, whom he believed was cooperating with the corruption investigation.

Nevarez was charged in 2008 with first-degree murder and concealment of a homicide.

Prosecutors allege Nevarez, a reputed member of the Satan Disciples street gang, shot Kaminski in the head and shoulder and buried him under a dirt floor in the basement of his father’s basement.

He got a friend to help dig a hole in the basement by threatening him, “You better help me m----------- or you’ll end up like him,” Assistant Cook County State’s Attorney Bill Delaney said.

Nevarez had hired Kaminski to paint his home, in the 4400 block of South Knox.

Finnigan's attorney could not immediately be reached for comment.