Worker Inhaled Cyanide at Defunct Film Plant : 3 Guilty of Murder in Job-Related Death

A judge convicted three former executives of a film-recovery plant of murder Friday after an unprecedented trial stemming from the death of a worker who inhaled cyanide on the job.

The officials of the now-defunct Film Recovery Systems Inc. also were found guilty of 14 counts of reckless conduct each.

Each defendant could face 20 to 40 years in prison, the maximum for murder under Illinois law in the absence of aggravating circumstances.

Cook County Circuit Judge Ronald J. P. Banks said the death of the worker, Stefan Golab, 61, “was not accidental, but in fact murder.”

“I find the conditions under which the workers performed their duties totally unsafe,” Banks said.

The bench trial was believed to be the nation’s first in which corporate officials were charged with murder in the job-related death of an employee in the workplace.

Banks said he would set a sentencing date at a June 28 hearing. He revoked bail for all three men, and they were taken into custody by Cook County Sheriff’s police.

Film Recovery and another corporation, Metallic Marketing, also were found guilty of involuntary manslaughter and reckless conduct.

Those found guilty were Steven J. O’Neil, former president of Film Recovery; Charles Kirschbaum, plant manager, and Daniel Rodriguez, a foreman.

When the verdict was read, Kirschbaum’s wife began sobbing loudly from the back of the courtroom.

“They (the defendants) knew the workers were becoming nauseated and vomiting,” said Banks. “They (the workers) complained.

“Charles Kirschbaum saw the workers vomiting. Daniel Rodriguez knew the workers got sick at the plant.”

Attorney Thomas Royce, representing Rodriquez and O’Neil, said the would appeal.

“It’s clearly a landmark decision at this point,” said Royce, adding: “It does send a message . . . that the typical notions of criminal justice are applicable to the workplace.”

Kirschbaum’s attorney, Elliot Samuels, could not be reached immediately for comment on the verdict. He left the court building and a secretary at his law office said he was not expected back until later.

The three were charged in the Feb. 10, 1983, death of Golab, a Polish immigrant who worked at the plant in the Chicago suburb of Elk Grove Village. Cyanide was used to recover silver from used X-ray film at the plant.

Prosecutors said Golab, who had complained of dizziness and nausea, died of acute cyanide poisoning, as an autopsy had found.

But a defense witness, an out-of-state medical examiner who inspected the autopsy reports, said he believed Golab died of a heart attack.

However, Dr. Vincent DiMaio, chief medical examiner of Bexar County in Texas, also admitted that the level of cyanide in Golab’s blood “is suggestive of a death by cyanide.”

Banks said he concluded that Golab’s death was in fact due to “acute cyanide toxicity.”

The government also had charged the defendants were aware that plant conditions posed a strong risk of death or great bodily harm and played “Russian roulette” with the lives of workers.

Prosecutors contended the defendants damaged the health of 20 other workers by exposing them to dangerous levels of industrial cyanide. The reckless conduct charges resulted from those accusations.

But the defense said the three officers had no idea that conditions were dangerous and had worked at the plant themselves.

Two other defendants were charged in the case. One was acquitted at the close of the government’s case. The other has fought extradition.

Scores of witnesses including doctors, scientists and former plant workers testified during the trial, which began in mid-April.

Burns, Loss of Eyesight

Several former employees testified they suffered headaches, nausea, vomiting, burns or loss of eyesight while working at the plant. They also said there was insufficient protective gear.

The government argued that the company hired illegal aliens and employees who spoke little or no English so they would not complain about plant conditions or understand the hazardous nature of their work.

But the defense claimed the case was built on “circumstantial evidence” and the three men were responsible managers. Defense attorneys also contended the plant was as safe as any other involved in similar operations.

In May, a fourth defendant, Gerald Pett, former plant manager and vice president, was acquitted of the murder charge.

The fifth defendant, Michael MacKay of Salt Lake City, a company official, has successfully thwarted extradition twice. Prosecutors are expected to make a third attempt soon.

Film Recovery and the men also face multimillion-dollar civil lawsuits filed by former employees.

The plant closed after Golab’s death. Later, 16 million pounds of cyanide-tainted film chips illegally stored at several sites were cleaned up under a plan developed by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency and the attorney general’s office.