John O’Holleran was at his desk when he got the call. The vice president of the Chicago office of American Consulting Engineers was told that one of his firm’s field surveyors had been the victim of a gruesome hit-and-run robbery. O’Holleran instructed the victim’s work partner to sit inside his truck and try to calm down while the paramedics did their job. Then, O’Holleran jumped into his car and headed down to the crime scene.

A few moments earlier that day, on Oct. 18, 2006, Jim Polous, 42, had just finished eating lunch. He and his 25-year-old survey partner, Brian Vander Veen, were shooting grades on an exit ramp near Chicago’s busy Dan Ryan Expressway. It was like any other day.