Chicago is the third largest city in the United States and where Paul Kersey moved to after he was captured by the police for being a vigilante in New York City. Although it is seen briefly in Death Wish, it is the main setting of the novel Death Sentence.
Death Wish (1974)[]
After Paul Kersey was injured in a shootout with the Stair Muggers, he went to the hospital where Lt. Frank Ochoa
told him to leave New York. Paul agrees and moves to his company's office in Chicago. He goes to Chicago by train and meets Fred Brown, an employee at his company's Chicago office, at Union Station. While there he excuses himself from talking to Fred Brown and goes over to where some hoodlums are harassing a woman. They hoodlums knocked her stuff out of her hands and Paul helps her pick them up after the hoodlums walk away. While he is picking up the woman's things, the hoodlums taunt him and Paul just smiles at them and aims his hand at them like a gun.
Death Sentence (Novel 1975)[]
In the novel Death Sentence, which takes place in a slightly different continually than the Death Wish films, is about Paul Benjamin, who Paul Kersey is based on, after he moves to Chicago after being a vigilante in New York City. In the novel, Paul continues his vigilantism with no problems at first and continues to kill muggers like he did in New York. After he meets Irene Evans, he becomes distracted from vigilantism and wants to be with her. Paul's vigilantism is further questioned when an imitator named Orson Pyne begins killing muggers like him. Paul has a struggle between continuing vigilantism or stopping it due to the fact he thinks it is wrong. Eventually, Paul decides that vigilantism causes too many problems and after killing Orson Pyne, gives decided to give up vigilantism for good.