Sandra Kolalou Murders Frances Walker In Chicago

Sandra Kolalou
Sandra Kolalou

Sandra Kolalou is a killer from Chicago Illinois who would be convicted of the murder of her landlord Frances Walker

According to court documents Sandra Kolalou was being evicted from a rooming house in Chicago Illinois following complaints from other tenants. Two days later Sandra Kolalou would attack sixty nine year old Frances Walker stabbing the woman to death. Kolalou would then dismember the body and hid parts in a freezer and trash bags

Sandra Kolalou would call a tow truck driver to bring her to her abandoned car and the driver would later tell police that she would drop a trash bag off and she would pull a knife on him when he refused to drive her anywhere else

Sandra Kolalou would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to fifty eight years in prison

Sandra Kolalou Case

The woman convicted of killing her landlord and hiding her body parts in a freezer and a garbage bin at a North Side beach nearly two years ago was sentenced to 58 years in prison on Wednesday.

Sandra Kolalou was convicted in April on multiple charges, including first-degree murder, for the death of 69-year-old Frances Walker in October 2022 at a home in Arcadia Terrace.

At Kolalou’s sentencing hearing Wednesday, Cook County Judge Ursula Walowski said the case was like something out of a horror movie and said Kolalou clearly has no sense of remorse for her crime.

The judge also said it seems Kolalou wants to run the show while behind jail, citing multiple grievances she filed against a corrections officer and her verbal abuse of other jail staff. At the hearing, a corrections officer also testified about how Kolalou attacked her while in custody, leaving the officer with a broken ankle.

Walowski sentenced Kolalou to 50 years in prison for her conviction for first-degree murder, 6 years for dismembering Walker’s body, and 2 years for aggravated identity theft. The sentences will be served consecutively, but Kolalou will get credit for 641 days she already has spent in jail.

Before she was sentenced, Kolalou spoke on her own behalf, saying she sent her condolences to Walker’s family, but she insisted she was not a killer.

Prosecutors say Kolalou was upset that she was being evicted by Walker from a rooming house at 5919 N. Washtenaw Ave. The murder happened two days after Walker received complaints from other tenants about Kolalou.

Police at the time said Kolalou replied to the text messages, conveying the impression that Walker was still alive.

Prosecutors said Kolalou called a tow truck to take her to Foster Beach, where her broken-down car was parked. At one point, she pulled out a knife on the driver in the area of Western and Estes after they refused to take her elsewhere.

The tow truck driver watched her dump a black garbage bag into a garbage bin. At the beach, pooled blood and blood-soaked rags were found inside. Investigators also found portions of Walker’s body in the home’s freezer.

Kolalou was charged with first-degree murder and concealing a homicidal death and one misdemeanor count of aggravated assault with the use of a deadly weapon.

During Kolalou’s sentencing hearing, Walker’s brother, Arnold, testified that they grew up together as two of six children and told the judge about her love of music, especially playing the piano.

Arnold also testified about how his sister helped care for their special needs brother, Stan.

Walker’s niece, Katarina, told the judge her life has fallen apart since Walker’s death, and she said she can no longer enter a church because it reminds her of Walker playing the piano.

Sandra Kolalou originally was scheduled to be sentenced last month, but at her last hearing her lawyers said there were letters from family and video of her saving an elderly woman that they didn’t have and wanted to show the court.

Kolalou’s attorneys said they plan to appeal her sentence.

Her defense team also previously filed a motion for a retrial, which was denied.

https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/woman-sentenced-killing-dismembering-landlord-arcadia-terrace

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Sandra Kolalou Murders Frances Walker

Sandra Kolalou
Sandra Kolalou Francs Walker

Sandra Kolalou is a killer from Illinois who would be convicted of the murder of Frances Walker

According to court documents Frances Walker had served Sandra Kolalou an eviction notice and needless to say this killer did not take it well

Sandra Kolalou would attack Frances Walker with a butcher knife, dismember her body and hid body parts all around the apartment including in the freezer

Several other residents within the rooming home would hear the screams of Frances Walker and would attempt to contact her but unfortunately it was too late

Eventually police would arrive however Sandra Kolalou would refuse to cooperate with them and took off with a tow truck driver. The driver would later tell police that he witnesses Kolalou throwing away a large garbage bag

Police would arrest Sandra Kolalou who would be charged with murder and would later be convicted. She is due to be sentenced this summer

Sandra Kolalou Case

A tenant in Chicago was convicted of the killing and dismembering of her 69-year-old landlord using “large butcher knives” and stashing the body parts in a freezer over an eviction notice

Sandra Kolalou, 37, was convicted on Monday of first-degree murder, dismembering a body, concealing a homicidal death, and aggravated identity theft in the killing of Frances Walker.

“We miss Fran a lot. She is the person no one can say anything bad about at all,” said sister-in-law Maria Maggie Walker after the verdict, Chicago NBC affiliate WMAQ reported.

Kolalou denied killing Walker, who she testified was a friend, saying, “I would do anything for Fran,” the Chicago Sun-Times reported. Her lawyers reportedly plan to appeal,

As Law&Crime reported, the killing happened on Oct. 10, 2022. Police responded to a call of a possible missing person at a boardinghouse where Kolalou had rented a room from Walker in the 5900 block of North Washtenaw Avenue.

Tenants in the building reported hearing Walker screaming at 2:30 a.m. and made several attempts to contact her. Walker did not respond, but several text messages were sent from her phone — texts officials said were sent by Kolalou.

When the tenants could not make contact all day, they called 911 to report her missing. As police arrived, Kolalou was seen exiting the residence and getting into a tow truck that she had allegedly ordered and paid for using Walker’s credit card. She refused to talk to the police, saying she knew her rights, and told the tow truck driver to take her to Foster Beach to get her car.

Prosecutors said “many of the tenants” in the boardinghouse were afraid of Kolalou, adding that police had responded to several previous 911 calls regarding the defendant. Fearful for the tow truck driver’s safety, several of the tenants exchanged information with him and made clear that they believed Kolalou to be dangerous, police said.

The tow truck driver soon contacted one of the tenants and relayed that when Kolalou got to Foster Beach, she “placed a large bag in a garbage can,” Deenihan said. Several tenants had followed the tow truck and opened the bag to discover bloody rags and linens inside. They notified the officers who were already back at the house, and additional officers responded to Foster Beach and the boardinghouse.

After an initial search revealed no signs of foul play, police searched Kolalou’s room again, this time finding blood and “the gruesome remains” in Kolalou’s freezer, police said. Investigators then obtained a search warrant and allegedly discovered additional blood spatter and several bloody kitchen knives.

Kolalou was still with the tow truck driver and had threatened him with a knife for contacting the other tenants, authorities said.

“Due to the communication between the tow truck driver and the tenants, police were able to get to that scene immediately and place the defendant in custody for pulling a knife on the tow truck driver,” Deenihan said.

Sandra Kolalou was transported to the police station, where she “immediately invoked her right to remain silent,” police said.

Kolalou is believed to have killed and dismembered Walker in Walker’s bedroom “with large butcher knives.”

Police said Walker had served the defendant with a notice to leave or an eviction notice.

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Clarisa Figueroa Murders Marlen Ochoa-Lopez

Clarisa Figueroa is a killer from Illinois who was convicted of the brutal murder of Marlen Ochoa-Lopez

According to court documents Clarisa Figueroa and her daughter Desiree Figueroa would lure Marlen Ochoa-Lopez to their home with the promise of free baby clothes for the pregnant teen

When Marlen Ochoa-Lopez showed up at the home she would be distracted by Desiree Figueroa with a photo album while Clarisa Figueroa would come up behind the teen with a cable and strangled the pregnant teen.

Clarisa Figueroa would then use a butcher knife to cut the baby out of Marlen Ochoa-Lopez womb. The pair would then wrap up the teen and disposed of her body in a trash can.

Clarisa would then call 911 and told operators that she had given birth at home and the newborn was not breathing. The baby would end up dying in the hospital two months later from severe brain damage

Marlen Ochoa-Lopez husband would report his wife missing the next day and told police that the last time he heard from her was when she was heading to the Figueroa household.

Clarisa Figueroa and Denise Figueroa would eventually be arrested and charged with murder

Denise Figueroa (photo below) would plead guilty to murder and agreed to testify against her mother. She was sentenced to 30 years in prison

Clarisa Figueroa would plead guilty to murder and would be sentenced to fifty years in prison

Desiree Figueroa
Desiree Figueroa

Clarisa Figueroa Case

Clarisa Figueroa was sentenced to 50 years in prison for the murder of pregnant Chicago woman Marlen Ochoa-Lopez, whose baby was cut from her womb.

Ochoa-Lopez was 19 when she was killed in 2019, and her unborn baby was cut from her womb in a home in Chicago’s Scottsdale neighborhood.

Clarisa Figueroa and her daughter Desiree were both charged with her murder. Desiree Figueroa pleaded guilty to murder in a Cook County courtroom Monday morning. Clarisa Figueroa’s boyfriend was released on parole last year after pleading guilty to helping conceal the murder.

Some of Ochoa-Lopez’s family were in court at the time. Two victim impact statements were read before the judge entered the plea agreement, including by Yovanny Lopez, Marlen’s husband the father of both their older son and the baby that Figueroa was targeting. He wrote in part, “Your punishment will never be enough because my son will never be able to hug his mother ever!”

The other was by Ochoa-Lopez’s mother Raquel Uriostegui, who wrote, “The loss of my daughter’s life is something I will never overcome.”

Clarisa Figueroa, who was 46 at the time of the murder, had announced to her family she was pregnant in October 2018, even though she had previously had her fallopian tubes tied.

Prosecutors said in February 2019 she started posting on the Help a Mother Out Facebook page, which helped connect families in need with baby items. That is how she connected with Ochoa-Lopez. Prosecutors said Figueroa offered the 19-year-old new baby clothes.

The prosecution said Clarisa told her daughter she needed help killing a pregnant woman and taking her baby. Ochoa-Lopez went to their home on April 1, 2019. Her boyfriend told police that Desiree initially refused to help her mother kill Ochoa-Lopez and that he threatened to call the police if they went through with it, and Ochoa-Lopez left the home unharmed.

On April 23, 2019, Ochoa-Lopez returned to their home, at which time prosecutors said Desiree showed her a photo album with pictures of Clarisa’s son Xander, who had died at age 20, while her mother strangled her from behind. Prosecutors said Desiree left the room before her mother took the baby from Ochoa-Lopez’s womb.

They then wrapped up the body in a blanket and a plastic bag before dumping it in a garbage can in the garage, and called 911 to report Clarisa had just given a home birth and her child wasn’t breathing.

Ochoa-Lopez’s baby survived for only two months after her death. Her husband reported her missing the day after her murder. The Figueroas were arrested on May 14.

Clarisa Figueroa accepted an agreement to plead guilty to first degree murder and will serve a 50 year sentence

https://abc7chicago.com/clarisa-figueroa-sentenced-to-50-years-in-prison-for-pregnant-woman-marlen-ochoa-lopezs-murder-whose-baby-was-cut-from-womb/14676286

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James Merritt Murders Haley Decker

James Merritt is a killer from Missouri who would murder eighteen year old Illinois teen Haley Decker

According to court documents James Merritt lived near the border of Missouri and Illinois when he would murder Haley Decker and stuffed the teenager into a suitcase which he would later abandon in a nature reserve in Illinois

Police were able to figure out that James Merritt was sex trafficking eighteen year old Haley Decker. Police investigators would also find blood in Merritt vehicle that would later be determined to be Haley Deckers

James Merritt would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to life in prison plus twenty nine years

James Merritt Case

A Pemiscot County jury deliberated for 90 minutes before finding a Morehouse, Missouri, man guilty of second degree murder for the death an 18-year-old Illinois woman.

James Merritt, 35, was also found guilty of armed criminal action, tampering with physical evidence and trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation.

During the three-day trial, which began Jan. 24 in Pemiscot County following a change of venue from New Madrid County, New Madrid County Prosecuting Attorney Andrew Lawson called 12 witnesses and introduced 96 exhibits into evidence. The defense called one witness, with Merritt declining to testify.

Merritt was charged in connection with the death of Haley Decker of Normal, Illinois, who was reported missing March 4, 2020. On March 26, 2020, her body was discovered in a suitcase in the Cypress Creek National Wildlife Refuge in rural Pulaski County, Illinois. An autopsy determined the woman died after being struck on the head multiple times by a blunt object.

In their investigation of the case, the Missouri Highway Patrol determined Decker was a prostitute working in Southeast Missouri. After officers located her phone in Morehouse, they were then able to trace her location to Merritt’s residence.

During a formal interview with investigators, Merritt admitted to meeting Decker online. Also he admitted during the interview that he had taken Decker to Sikeston and Cape Girardeau on multiple occasions to meet “Johns” for the purpose of prostitution.

In addition officers were able to use cellular records from Decker and Merritt’s phones to determine they were in the same location on Jan. 25, 2020, in southern Illinois where Decker’s remains were found.

After returning the verdict, the jurors were asked to deliberate a second time to make a recommendation for sentencing. The jury deliberated about 45 minutes and recommended Merritt be sentenced to a maximum of life in prison on the murder charge, 20 years for the armed criminal action charge, four years in prison for tampering with physical evidence and five years in prison along with a fine on the charge of trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation.

“I am extremely pleased with the jury’s verdicts in this case,” said Lawson at the conclusion of the trial. “Without the tireless efforts of multiple law enforcement agencies, this verdict would not have been possible. Thanks to the outstanding cooperation between the Missouri State Highway Patrol, the New Madrid County Sheriff’s Department and the Illinois State Police, the defendant was arrested within three weeks of the victim’s body being discovered.”

Formal sentencing was set by Circuit Judge Joshua Underwood for 9 a.m. March 13. At that time Underwood will decide whether to run the jury’s recommended sentences concurrently to each other or consecutively.

https://standard-democrat.com/story/3027107.html

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Emonte Morgan Murders Officer Ella French

Emonte Morgan is a killer from Chicago Illinois who was convicted of the murder of Officer Ella French and the attempted murder of her partner

According to court documents Emonte Morgan was pulled over on a traffic stop and soon after a gunfight would ensue with Chicago Police Department Officer Ella French being fatally shot and her partner CPD Officer Carlos Yañez would be injured. Morgan would also fire at another Officer but thankfully missed

Emonte Morgan would be arrested, convicted and will be sentenced at a later date

Emonte Morgan Case

A jury found Emonte Morgan guilty in the 2021 murder of Chicago Police Officer Ella French and the attempted murder of two other officers on Tuesday evening.

The jury of seven men and five women, most of whom live in the suburbs, deliberated for 3.5 hours and reached their verdict shortly before 7:30 p.m.

French’s mother, Elizabeth, arrived hand-in-hand with her daughter’s colleagues for the reading of the verdict. She bowed her head as the guilty verdicts rang out.

In court, 23-year-old Morgan showed no emotion as the jury found him guilty on all counts, convicting him of first-degree murder for French’s shooting death and two counts of attempted first-degree murder for wounding CPD Officer Carlos Yañez and opening fire at a third officer, Joshua Blas.

There was no discernible reaction from Morgan’s family.

Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx spoke after the verdict was delivered on behalf of the team of “brilliant, dedicated attorneys” who prosecuted the case.

“We are incredibly gratified by the jury’s verdict today,” Foxx said. “But it is difficult to feel anything other than sadness about the senseless murder of a Chicago police officer killed in the line of duty, who laid her life on the line for the people of Cook County only for it to be struck down by senseless violence.”

“While this is a victory, it is very difficult to feel just, because justice would be Ella French continuing to be with her family and serving the people of Cook County,” Foxx added.

Foxx declined to answer directly on Tuesday night whether Morgan’s brother, Eric, should have also been tried for first-degree murder.

Eric was also at that traffic stop, but was not the triggerman in the August 2021 shooting. He pleaded guilty to lesser felonies and was sentenced to seven years in prison last October.

The shooting happened in Englewood after a traffic stop as police and Morgan, who had a gun in his waistband, scuffled in the backseat of an SUV.

The jury was shown graphic police body camera video during which, at one point, Morgan is seen with a gun in his hand, stepping around both French and Yañez, who were on the ground.

But the defense said based on the bodycam video, it is unclear what exactly happened, arguing that Morgan was trying to drop his gun when it went off during the struggle even though several shots were fired.

“This is a coverup, point blank, period. And I do believe that my son will receive justice. I will not stop. I will continue to fight for my son’s justice,” Evalena Flores, Morgan’s mother, said as she left the courthouse on Tuesday.

During five days of often tearful testimony, the jury heard from French’s mother and Yañez, who was, for a time, confined to a wheelchair and still has a bullet in his neck.

“It’ll never be the same for Elizabeth. It’ll never be the same for the Yañez family or the Blas family or this department, in reality,” said Chicago Fraternal Order of Police President John Catanzara.

Morgan now faces a possible life sentence. The parties are due back in court on April 19 for post-trial motions.

ABC7 Legal Contributor Tony Thedford said he expects those motions to include a request for a new trial or for the verdict to be throw out. If those motions are rejected, the hearing could move directly to sentencing.

On day five of the trial, which has been full of emotional moments, prosecutors called a Cook County assistant medical examiner to the stand. She testified that she found a bullet and bleeding in the slain officer’s brain in August of 2021.

French’s mother was escorted out of the courtroom before photos of the autopsy were shown to jurors.

After the medical examiner’s testimony, the state rested its case.

Morgan is accused of pulling the trigger, during a traffic stop in Englewood in 2021. French’s partner, Yañez, was also shot and seriously hurt.

Prosecutors tried to make the case that Morgan concealed a weapon, and fired the shots that killed French and hit Yañez five times.

“The defendant chose to get out of that car with the gun in his waistband,” Cook County Assistant State’s Attorney Emily Stevens said. “This wasn’t an accident. This wasn’t a struggle. This was cold-blooded murder.”

Morgan’s defense presented stipulations late Tuesday morning before also resting.

The defense has argued that the traffic stop shouldn’t have happened because the plate was not expired, and there is no evidence showing Morgan firing shots. They contend the gun went off as Yañez and Morgan struggled.

Morgan said he would not testify in his own defense.

Cook County Assistant Public Defender Jennifer Hodel told jurors Morgan was holding his phone to record the interaction with police.

“We don’t see what happened; you can’t make a determination if he intentionally did anything,” Hodel said.

Closing arguments also took place Tuesday afternoon.

Jurors and those in the courtroom watched bodycam video of the incident several times, and heard from numerous witnesses, including Yañez, throughout the trial.

In the video from Yañez’s bodycam, after Yañez was shot and fell to the ground, Morgan can be seen with a weapon in his hand, walking past the fallen officers.

French’s mother walked out of court Tuesday with Yañez and Blas.

Morgan’s mother was also in attendance Tuesday.

“They’re only showing bits and pieces. It’s been unfair from the beginning; it’s so obvious,” Evaleena Flores said.

Throughout the trial, officers have been in court to show support, including the president of the Fraternal Order of Police.

“Even if they said it was a bad traffic stop, does that mean you have the ability to execute people? It’s just a dumb argument to make,” Catanzara said.

Court was not in session Monday because of Casimir Pulaski Day.

https://abc7chicago.com/ella-french-trial-emonte-morgan-chicago-police/14493135/

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