Isle friends mourn attorney's killing

A part-time Big Island resident is shot in a Chicago office

Michael R. McKenna, an attorney killed in a high-rise shooting in downtown Chicago on Friday, was a part-time Big Island resident and a lover of its people and the arts, friends in Hawaii said yesterday.

"He was just here three weeks ago," Big Island artist Anita Broennimann, 66, said through tears as she learned of his death. "With his second wife and young son. We had lunch with him."

Broennimann said McKenna seemed at ease with his life and did not mention any problems.

Chicago police said gunman Joe Jackson, who apparently felt cheated over an invention, targeted McKenna.

McKenna's business card was found in Jackson's pocket.

Jackson forced a security guard at gunpoint to take him up to the 38th floor office of the intellectual property law firm Wood, Phillips, Katz, Clark & Mortimer, where McKenna rented space.

Jackson, 59, carried a revolver, knife and hammer in a large manila envelope, and chained the office doors behind him, police said. Jackson told witnesses he had been cheated over a toilet he invented for use in trucks. There were up to 30 people on the floor at the time.

Jackson shot three people: 58-year-old McKenna; Allen J. Hoover, 65; and Paul Goodson, 78. Two police SWAT officers shot Jackson to death as he held a hostage at gunpoint.

Jackson had three criminal offenses on his record. In 1968, he was arrested for unlawful possession of a weapon, and in 1977, he was arrested for a stolen motor vehicle and disorderly conduct.

Hoover was a partner at the firm, while Goodson worked part-time at the firm, sorting mail and making deliveries. McKenna's longtime paralegal, Ruth Zak Leib, 57, was wounded on her foot but was treated and released.

McKenna's principal office was at the 43-story Citigroup Center in Chicago, with satellite offices in Northbrook, Ill., and Kailua-Kona.

He has been practicing copyright and patent law since 1976, and opened his office in Hawaii about a decade ago, where he represented many local artists.

He also represented inventors and was an inventor himself. He held two U.S. patents, including one for automatic signaling in cars.

McKenna's interest in local arts brought him to Erich and Anita Broennimann, two Big Island artists who knew him for more than 12 years, when he first started spending time in the islands.

When informed of McKenna's death, Anita broke down in tears, stating that McKenna's first wife had died recently because of an illness.

The couple considered McKenna a family friend and got together whenever he was on the island. Anita remembered how excited and happy she was when McKenna passed the bar exam to practice in Hawaii several years ago.

"His life was just starting to take shape after all the misery he went through," Erich said of McKenna, who has three children with his first wife, and a 1-year-old son with his second wife.

McKenna bought Anita's paintings and Erich's pottery and sculptures, and McKenna offered them free legal advice because of their close relationship.

McKenna was a great admirer of Hawaii and its art scene, the couple said. On the couple's Web site, McKenna remarked that a vase Erich had made reminded him "of the volcanoes of Hawaii."

"Mike -- he worked for you," Erich, 67, said. "He always tried to set things up for artists and make sure nobody can steal their ideas."

Erich said McKenna was honest, open, intelligent and sensitive, the couple said.

"All we can say is that we're really sad, and that we lost a truly wonderful friend," Erich said. "He was among our closest friends."