From a June 1, 1984 story in the Chicago Tribune, by reporter Philip Wattley:

A suspect was being sought Thursday in connection with the slaying of a City Colleges of Chicago professor whose body, bearing 20 stab wounds, was found in his South Side apartment.

Police said it appeared that the victim, Francis E. Pellegrini, 47, was slain Wednesday by someone he knew, because there was no sign of forced entry to his apartment....

For the last nine years, Pellegrini, an assistant professor of sociology and social science for City Colleges, had been assigned to a program that allows high school seniors to take advanced courses to earn college credits, college officials said....

Pellegrini, who was the organist and choir director at All Saints-St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church, 518 W. 28th Pl., had not shown up to direct the choir.

Last fall Pellegrini was honored for 25 years of service to the church, receiving congratulations from Joseph Cardinal Bernardin, President Reagan, Gov. James Thompson and Mayor Harold Washington.

From 1971 to 1975, before joining the City Colleges faculty, Pellegrini was executive director of the Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans, sponsor of Chicago's annual Columbus Day Parade.

In 1964, while a teacher at Josephinum Catholic High School here, he was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to study classical languages in Italy.'

Pellegrini’s murder remains unsolved to this day.

What wasn’t mentioned in the Chicago Tribune story is that due to his work and connections in the Church, Pellegrini may have had knowledge of an alleged clergy pederast ring known as the Boys Club, which had been operating clandestinely in the city. Members of the alleged ring included priests and laymen, several of whom are deceased. There’s conflicting information about whether Pellegrini was planning to expose them. (The archdiocese has denied any knowledge of the alleged ring’s existence.)

Pellegrini’s murder was featured in fictionalized form by Catholic author Malachi Martin in his 1996 novel Windswept House. Also, according to Catholic journalist Joseph M. Hanneman,

This ring was mentioned by Father Andrew M. Greeley in his 1999 book Furthermore! Memories of a Parish Priest. ‘They are a dangerous group,’ Greeley wrote. ‘There is reason to believe they are responsible for one murder and may perhaps have been involved in the murder of the murderer.’ …. Greeley, who died in 2013, never publicly identified any members of the Boys Club.

Thomas R. Hampson, an Illinois private investigator and founder of Truth Alliance Foundation … spent years investigating the Boys Club and priestly sexual abuse of teenage boys. The Boys Club was a ‘loosely organized group of priests and laity who cultivated sexual relationships with vulnerable boys and shared these boys with each other,’ Hampson said. The ring was alleged to be centered in Chicago’s Bridgeport neighborhood. Texas attorney Sheila Parkhill, who also investigated the Boys Club, said its members are guilty of ritualistic and satanic abuse of children, as well as murder, credit card theft, and fraud. One suspected Boys Club member was convicted of predatory sexual abuse of a child; several other suspected members have died. Most Boys Club members have never been charged with crimes, Hampson said.

(I know the identity of “the suspected Boys Club member” who “was convicted of predatory sexual abuse of a child.” However, because I don’t have proof he was indeed a member of the Boys Club – and I don’t want to put myself in legal or physical danger – I won’t publicize his name.)

Another source who’s highly knowledgeable of the case recently informed me that “DNA evidence has been sent to the Illinois State Police lab for analysis under a grant. This includes DNA evidence found under the fingernails of [Pellegrini’s] left hand and from a bedsheet at the murder site. The DNA will be tested and submitted to CODIS and a genealogical match pursued. Unfortunately, it doesn't have high priority, but I still believe it's the biggest break in the case.”

Hopefully it will bring about a resolution to the case, even if the murderer(s) is/are deceased.