John Kowalczyk was born in Chicago in 1988 and currently lives and works in Milwaukee, Wisconsin as an artist, curator, and educator. Kowalczyk received his BFA in painting from the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design (MIAD) in 2010 and shortly thereafter began a three-year residency at the Milwaukee RedLine, where he curated gallery exhibitions and taught workshops. He served as the Educational Artist-in-Residence Program Director, promoting and overseeing large-scale community and public art projects throughout the City of Milwaukee.
Born in Chicago in 1988, John Kowalczyk currently lives and works in Milwaukee, WI as an artist, curator, and educator. Kowalczyk received his BFA in painting from Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design (MIAD) in 2010, and began a three year residency with RedLine Milwaukee soon after, where he curated gallery shows and taught workshops. He worked as the Artist in Residence Program Director for Artists Working in Education, where he facilitated and oversaw large scale community and public art projects throughout thaaOn June 7, 1993, John Kowalczyk was found murdered in a parking lot in Milwaukee.
This unfortunate event sparked a long and complex investigation that traversed three states, resulting in multiple suspicious deaths being linked to the initial case.
Investigation Discovery’s ‘Nightmare Next Door: Everyone Has a Motive‘ details the trial of Ralph Shambaugh Jr., accused of the murder, who faced prosecution in the absence of sound evidence due to the highly circumstantial nature of the case.
Viewers are provided an insight into what transpired after John’s murder through phone and bank records that were used by the prosecution to make their connections.
John was a prominent figure in his community. He immigrated with his family from Poland to New York at a young age and worked for the Defense Intelligence Agency before moving into real estate.
In 1993 a great tragedy occurred; John and Katherine were going through an unpleasant divorce at the time, which had affected their visitation rights with their two children.
On June 10 of that year, John drove into an office parking lot with his son Nicholas, who was just 12 years old.
It was approximately 8 PM, and they were awaiting Katherine’s arrival to take Nicholas home.
Nicholas was in the middle of a scenic voyage along with his father, John, when they stopped to discard some trash.
Out of nowhere, devastating deathly silence interrupted the atmosphere as Nicholas heard a gunshot.
The gunshot had dealt a fatal blow to his father, who slumped in the seat behind him with a 30-caliber sabot round entering from behind his right ear.
Recognizing that his father was no longer alive, Nicholas looked around in shock, yet could not locate the menacing figure responsible for this horrendous crime.e city of Milwaukee.
