Friday, August 8, 2008

Husband pleads not guilty in stabbing death


A Waukegan man accused of killing his wife in a Lincolnshire parking lot pleaded not guilty Thursday in Lake County circuit court.

Clarence Weber Jr., 58, could face the death penalty if convicted of the July 5 murder of Adelina Weber, 31.

Police said Weber met his estranged wife after her shift at the Walker Bros. Original Pancake House to discuss the divorce she had filed for June 30.

An argument broke out, police said, and Weber stabbed his wife once in the chest.

The woman ran into the lobby of a nearby hotel, collapsed and died.

Weber fled the state but was captured near Crown Point, Ind., three days after the slaying.

Weber served seven years of a 19-year prison term in Florida for a pair of attacks on the woman he was married to in 1989.

Lake County Assistant State's Attorney Bolling Haxall said Weber is also a suspect in the May 7 fire that destroyed his home in Waukegan, but he has not been charged in that case.

Haxall said Lake County State's Attorney Michael Waller has 120 days to decide if he will seek the death penalty in the murder case. He said Weber is eligible for capital punishment because his wife had an order of protection against him at the time of her death.

Associate Judge Christopher Stride scheduled a pretrial hearing for Sept. 12.

Weber is held without bond in the Lake County jail.

No comments: