“It was a violent, horrific attack on a completely innocent victim who had every right to feel safe in her own home,” DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert B. Berlin told reporters.
The man charged with the "vicious and brutal" murder of a woman in her Hinsdale home earlier this month pawned her wedding rings after the attack, prosecutors said.
Dominic Sanders, 30, was charged with first-degree murder, home invasion and armed robbery in connection with the death of Andrea Urban, 50, a cancer survivor and mother of two. He was ordered held Saturday morning without bond.
"It was a violent, horrific attack on a completely innocent victim who had every right to feel safe in her own home," DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert B. Berlin told reporters after bond court.
The state's attorney said video clips obtained from nearby homes and businesses show Sanders arriving in Hinsdale just after 10 a.m. on May 4 and parking his car in downtown Hinsdale.
"He got out, he put on a vest, and he began walking in the direction of the victim's home," Berlin said.
The tape stopped as he went into Urban's home, Berlin said, and the video picks up about 30 minutes later, showing him walking back in the direction of his car.
Inside the home, the state's attorney alleges Sanders and Urban got into a "physical altercation" that resulted in Sanders "repeatedly striking Urban in the head and slashing her throat."
Urban's 17-year-old son later discovered his mother in the kitchen, Berlin said.
She was covered in blood with her underwear ripped off, a state prosecutor said in court, and a knife broken in two pieces was found in the kitchen sink.
Berlin said video shows Sanders went to a Melrose Park pawn shop and pawned Urban's two rings.
At about 3:30 p.m. on May 4, Hinsdale Police responded to a 911 call regarding an unresponsive woman in the 700 block of Town Place. They found Urban lying on the kitchen floor with apparent knife injuries to her head and neck.
After an extensive investigation, Sanders was arrested on May 25 following an unrelated Will County traffic violation. Sanders had a warrant in Will County for not appearing in court May 11 for a prior felony conviction.
Sanders gave a statement to police admitting to pawning the rings and going to Urban's house, Berlin said. Sanders told police he reached into the house and grabbed them from a shelf and fled.
In his statement to police, he said he was in Hinsdale because he used to sell candy there as a child and wanted to retrace his old candy route.
"The sheer brutality of this case is alarming and will be met with the full force of the law," Berlin said. "My sincerest condolences go out to Andrea’s family and friends, particularly her children, as they attempt to come to terms with this senseless crime."
Police continue to investigate whether Sanders knew Urban or had contact with her before May 4.
Sanders was charged Friday in Urban's murder. A man who identified himself as Sanders' cousin showed up at the Hinsdale police station, visibly upset, with his attorney.
The attorney, Steve Goodman, told reporters Sanders was picked up by police at 3:30 a.m. Thursday and questioned by police at the Burr Ridge police station.
Sources told NBC 5 a person of interest police had been speaking to had shown up near the crime scene on multiple home surveillance cameras.
According to a November article in The Hinsdalean, one of the town's local newspapers, Urban was a cancer survivor and advocate for the use of medical marijuana. The newspaper reports that she made her own cannaboid oil in her kitchen. She also reportedly worked as a caterer in New York City in 2001 and fed emergency workers during 9/11.
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An actress, the newspaper reports she "landed small roles" on "Chicago P.D." and "Chicago Fire" and aspired to open a medical marijuana dispensary in Michigan.
Police said the investigation continues and asks that anyone with information regarding Urban's death call the Hinsdale Police Department at 630-789-7070.
