A jury in Chicago has decided fate of a woman accused of killing and dismembering her landlord in an Oct. 2022 attack in Chicago.
That jury found Sandra Kolalou guilty of first degree murder and other charges in the slaying of her landlord Frances Walker after seven hours of deliberation Monday.
Prosecutors charged Kolalou with first-degree murder and concealing a homicidal death, among other charges.
The jury found her guilty of murdering Walker after she was served an eviction notice. She then dismembered the victim's body, with Walker’s head, arms and legs being found in a freezer inside the residence.
Kolalou is also accused of using the victim’s credit cards after her death.
A jury began deliberating in the case at 2 p.m. Monday and reached a verdict after 9 p.m.
“The world is more dangerous than she realized,” Arnold Walker, the victim’s brother, said.
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“We miss Fran a lot,” her sister-in-law Maria Maggie Walker said. “She was a person that nobody could ever say anything bad at all (about).”
Prosecutors argued that DNA evidence connected Kolalou to the murder, while defense attorneys had argued that other tenants planted evidence in their client’s room.
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A DNA expert testified there is unknown DNA on some of the evidence presented by the prosecution. Prosecutors countered by pointing out that the defendant’s DNA was also found.
According to police, Kolalou was a boarding house tenant of Walker's.
Prosecutors alleged Kolalou had been given an eviction notice prior to the killing and was heard arguing with Walker by other tenants in the building.
In the hours that followed, tenants reported hearing loud bangs and one heard screaming. One tenant texted Walker to see if she was OK, but never received a response.
"Other tenants heard loud bangs and the victim and the defendant arguing on the first floor," said Assistant State's Attorney Anne McCord Rodgers during a 2022 detention hearing. "The basement tenant heard the defendant screaming and what sounded like a dish breaking."
In the hours that followed, tenants said they heard "scratching noises" in the home's common area. Then, some received perplexing text messages from Walker's phone, prosecutors said.
The messages stated that Kolalou would care for Walker's dog and anyone who moves out going forward should give Kolalou the keys, according to prosecutors.
Walker's phone was later found in Kolalou's bedroom, officials said in court.
Tenants ultimately called police following the altercation and strange messages.
Authorities said they were called to the home in the 5900 block of North Washtenaw in Chicago's West Ridge neighborhood for a wellbeing check, after a tenant reported that Walker hadn't been seen and wasn't responding to texts.
“The suspect…lived in the residence,” Chief of Detectives Brendan Deenihan said. "The other tenants were afraid. The suspect had recently called a tow truck and carried a heavy bag out to the tow truck.”
At the time officers arrived, Kolalou was seen carrying garbage bags and allowed police to search her room, prosecutors said. When officers did not find anything, Kolalou was allowed to leave with the tow truck she had called to take her, and the garbage bags, to Foster Avenue Beach, where she said her car had broken down.
Once there, the driver reported Kolalou dumped the garbage bags in a trash can at the beach before needing to take her car to a mechanic, prosecutors said.
After attempting to get her car serviced at multiple locations, prosecutors allege Kolalou paid the driver with Walker's credit card before growing upset that he wouldn't take her to another shop. That's when they say she pulled a knife on the driver, who defended himself with a stick until police arrived.
The driver then told police about the garbage bags he claimed Kolalou dumped near the beach.
“The tow truck driver actually gave us a location and explained the person he was transporting actually pulled a knife, so officers responded to that scene and placed the suspect into custody,” Deenihan said.
Authorities said they later found bloody rags inside that garbage can. According to the Cook County Medical Examiner, the contents of the bag did not contain human remains.
"We learned this individual dumped a large plastic bag in a garbage can at Foster Beach and detectives were able to go to that garbage can and see that there were some bloody towels," Deenihan said. "Based on that evidence, detectives were able to go into the residence and they eventually discovered human remains in a freezer."
Authorities said they found a head and severed limbs inside the freezer, which were determined to belong to Walker. Her torso, however, remains missing, prosecutors said.
"In the first-floor kitchen freezer, police discovered the victim's severed head, dismembered arms and dismembered legs," Rodgers said. "The victim's torso has not been located at this time."
According to family and friends, Walker was a beloved member of her church community. She was also a piano accompanist at the Evanston School of Ballet.
They described her as a nice, outgoing woman who rented rooms to anyone who needed a place to stay.
"It was horrible," Walker's niece, Lorilee, told NBC Chicago. "And knowing what happened it’s even, you can’t just explain it. You never thought it would happen to your family.”
