Man stabs his wife ‘dozens of times,’ killing her in front of their kids, IL cops say
Children were witnesses to the ”brutal” killing of their mother, and now their father faces murder charges, Illinois authorities say.
The DuPage County State’s Attorney’s Office announced Thursday, April 4, Baltazar Perez-Estrada was denied his pre-trial release from jail following the March 31 death of his wife, Maricela Simon Franco.
Perez-Estrada, charged with five counts of first-degree murder, is accused of stabbing his wife “dozens of times” following an argument between the two in their home in Carol Stream.
Authorities said Franco was nearly decapitated in the attack. With their two minor children present, Perez-Estrada stabbed his wife on her head, neck, body and hands, according to the state’s attorney’s office.
The next morning, he went to the Carol Stream Police Department and confessed to the killing, authorities said.
An investigation revealed Perez-Estrada, 33, was in the United States illegally, having arrived from Mexico two weeks prior, officials said. In addition to his murder charges, the husband was charged with alien inadmissibility.
Carol Stream Chief of Police Don Cummings referred to Perez-Estrada’s alleged actions as “senseless and brutal,” saying the children have been “robbed” of their mother.
The sentiments were echoed by DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin, who said his office will prosecute the case “to the fullest extent of the law.”
“I offer my sincerest condolences to Maricela’s surviving family and friends on their loss and wish them strength as they continue their lives without the love and support provided by Maricela,” Berlin said in a statement. “The extremely violent end to a young mother’s life is something that should touch us all.”
Perez-Estrada is due in court April 25, authorities said.
Carol Stream is about a 35-mile drive east of Chicago.
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