Man charged with murder in ‘heinous’ beating of homeless man in Logan Square

A homeless man is facing a charge of first-degree murder in the beating of another homeless man Tuesday evening in Logan Square.

Cook County Judge David R. Navarro called the allegations “heinous” as he denied bail Saturday for 49-year-old Carl L. Wilson, accused of killing 58-year-old William Rosenbaum.

About 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, the two men were in a loud, heated argument in the 2500 block of North Western Avenue, when Wilson forced the unarmed Rosenbaum to the ground and beat him with a large metal pole, prosecutors alleged at Wilson’s initial court hearing Saturday.

Prosecutors said there were several witnesses, including one person who was driving by, stopped to try to break up the argument, then left before the confrontation turned physical.

Another witness captured the incident on video from the other side of a fence at the nearby Logan Square Dog Park. In a 12-second video published by Block Club Chicago, a man — presumably Rosenbaum — is heard yelling “please call the cops right now” as another man swings a pipe.

Rosenbaum was still alive when police and paramedics arrived to the scene, but he was pronounced dead the following morning at Illinois Masonic Medical Center, authorities said. An autopsy found he died of multiple blunt force injuries in a homicide, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office. Prosecutors said he lost 5 liters of blood and suffered a lacerated spleen and a broken rib.

Chicago Police arrested Wilson a couple blocks away Wednesday afternoon at a tent he sleeps in under the Kennedy Expressway, prosecutors said. In the tent, officers found the clothes he was wearing during the beating, authorities said.

Prosecutors said two witnesses identified Wilson in a photo spread as the attacker.

His next court appearance was scheduled for Monday.