Husband Fatally Stabs Wife After Finding Out She Had A Boyfriend, Kids Witness The Gruesome Act
2024-04-09
A DuPage County judge decided to deny pre-trial release for Baltazar. He is expected in court on April 25 for arraignmentPhoto byFacebook
A migrant in Illinois who was in the country illegally stabbed his wife to death, nearly decapitating her in front of one of their daughters, according to authorities.
Baltazar turned himself into police, he confided in his brother about what he did.Photo byCounty of DuPage
Baltazar Perez-Estrada, 33, turned himself into the Carol Stream Police Department on Monday around 11:30am and confessed that he ‘allegedly stabbed his wife,’ Maricela Simon Franco, 26, according to court records.
Around 10pm Sunday, the couple had an argument at their home in the Carol Stream apartment complex, that soon turned physical after Baltazar discovered that his wife had a boyfriend, prosecutors said.
Authorites later found out that Baltazar and his family had just entered the US illegally approx two weeks before he took his wife's lifePhoto byFacebook
He allegedly knifed his 26-year-old bride dozens of times in her head, body, hands and neck, nearly slicing off her head, prosecutors said, Fox 32 reported.
“The extremely violent end to a young mother’s life is something that should touch us all,” DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin said in a statement, the station reported.
The couple's two young daughters later told police that during the gruesome attack they saw their father 'hitting' their mother with a knifePhoto byFacebook
“First and foremost, 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,” said DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin in a statement.
“The extremely violent end to a young mother’s life is something that should touch us all. Domestic violence continues to be a scourge on society, claiming more than ten million victims a year in some form or fashion. In this case, the sad reality is, Maricela’s life has been reduced to a statistic of domestic violence due to the alleged actions of her husband, Baltazar Perez-Estrada. This brutal, senseless act of violence alleged against Mr. Perez-Estrada will not be tolerated and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
The couple had an argument at their home in the Carol Stream apartment complex, that soon turned physical after Baltazar discoveryPhoto byFacebook
According to a petition for pretrial detention filed by Assistant State’s Attorney Lee Roupas, a man came to police Monday morning saying his brother had told him about a stabbing. He had been asked by his brother to pick up a man and his two daughters at the Glenside Library in Glendale Heights. They were wet, cold and covered in mud, so he took them to buy clothes and then to his brother’s house to shower. Perez-Estrada told the brother about the stabbing, and the brother told the man, according to the petition.
A little while later, Perez-Estrada entered the station and told a social services worker that he had learned his wife had a boyfriend, they argued, and he stabbed her, according to the petition.
The petition states that the defendant’s daughter was in a bedroom with her younger sister, heard her parents arguing, and saw her father “hitting” her mother with the knife. The girl told police her father then threw the knife in a nearby pond.
The couple had been married for about nine years. The victim’s uncle said the victim had been at his apartment earlier Sunday and had said she was going to leave Perez-Estrada, according to the petition.
A medical examiner determined Simon-Franco had been stabbed several dozen times in the face, head, neck, arms and chest, and was nearly decapitated, according to the petition.
Previous police report revealed officers were called to the couple's house on March 17 for a domestic incident, but no criminal chargesPhoto byGoogle Maps
The petition stated that Perez-Estrada had been living in Mexico for several months but returned on March 11. He was charged by federal authorities with illegal entry and released. On March 17, Carol Stream police were called to the apartment for a domestic incident, but no criminal charges were filed, according to the petition.
Baltazar faces five counts of first-degree murder and he was charged by the US government with alien inadmissibility.
On Thursday, a DuPage County judge decided to deny pre-trial release for Baltazar.
He is expected in court on April 25 for arraignment and his immigration charges will be dealt with during a separate trial.
‘The men and women of the Carol Stream Police Department stand by the family and friends of Maricela Simon Franco as they mourn this tragic loss,’ Carol Stream Chief of Police Don Cummings said.
‘Not only has this senseless and brutal act removed Maricela from their lives, but it has robbed two young children of their mother.’
A GoFundMe page set up by the victim’s aunt said she’s now caring for their two children, 7 and 8, who had recently arrived in the country to see their mother.
“They would be left alone without their parents,” the post said.
Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene quickly used the case to call out President Joe Biden.
“[President Joe] Biden is letting monsters in our country,” Greene, a congresswoman from Georgia, wrote on X. “Animal is too nice of a word to describe this man [Perez-Estrada]. He’s a monster. [Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro] Mayorkas is running the open border that is letting these things in America. When we deliver the articles, [Senate Majority Leader Chuck] Schumer better hold a trial.”
Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., has called the immigrant crime narrative racist, The National Desk reported.
“It’s not true,” Garcia said. “Donald Trump is out here saying that we’re poisoning the blood of this country, and the facts actually don’t bear that out.”
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