Police say they have yet to make a connection between a slain Hinsdale woman and the University Park man who Saturday was ordered held without bail in her death.
Dominic J. Sanders, 30, was ordered held without bail and is facing three counts of first-degree murder of Andrea Urban, 51, an actress and medical marijuana advocate found beaten and stabbed to death in the kitchen of her home May 4. Police haven’t made clear whether the crime was random, saying they won’t rule out the possibility that Sanders and Urban knew one another.
Sanders was arrested Thursday, officials said, and DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin said investigators tied him to the crime through video from Hinsdale homes and businesses and a pawn shop where Sanders pawned a wedding ring and engagement ring taken from the home.
"This was good old-fashioned police work," Berlin said at a Saturday morning news conference that followed Sanders’ appearance in bond court.
Judge Mike Reidy denied bail for Sanders, who prosecutors said has a history of forgery convictions and failures to appear in court.
If convicted of the three counts, he could face a natural life sentence for what Assistant State’s Attorney Cathy DeLaMar called a "brutal and vicious attack."
Chuck Fieldman, Angie Leventis Lourgos and Matthew Walberg
A woman found dead Thursday inside her Hinsdale home — the upscale suburb’s first homicide that authorities could recall — was remembered as a devoted mother and a cancer survivor who worked tirelessly to promote the use of medical marijuana.
The body of Andrea Urban, 51, was found inside the home…
A woman found dead Thursday inside her Hinsdale home — the upscale suburb’s first homicide that authorities could recall — was remembered as a devoted mother and a cancer survivor who worked tirelessly to promote the use of medical marijuana.
The body of Andrea Urban, 51, was found inside the home…
(Chuck Fieldman, Angie Leventis Lourgos and Matthew Walberg)
Police pieced together video surveillance that they say showed Sanders parking his car in downtown Hinsdale the morning of May 4 before donning a reflective vest and walking toward Urban’s residence in the 700 block of Town Place. He was seen again on video walking quickly away from Urban’s neighborhood about 11 a.m., DeLaMar said.
Witnesses saw Urban doing some gardening about 9:30 a.m., and she texted a friend shortly after 10 a.m. to make plans to meet several hours later. She never showed up.
Urban’s 17-year-old son found her body on the kitchen floor, with some of her clothing removed and her throat slashed, prosecutors said. Police found a bloody kitchen knife in the sink that was broken in two. An upstairs bureau appeared to have been disturbed, and Urban’s cellphone was found in an upstairs toilet.
About two hours later, the prosecutor said, Sanders hocked the rings at a Melrose Park pawn shop. The rings had inscriptions that Urban’s family members were able to identify, Berlin said.
When questioned by police, DeLaMar said, Sanders initially feigned confusion about his name showing up in the pawn shop’s records. He later said he stole the rings by reaching in the front door at Urban’s home and taking them from a shelf, authorities said.
Sanders also told authorities that he used to sell candy in Hinsdale and was retracing his steps from those days, DeLaMar told the judge. Although Sanders’ address is listed as University Park, he mostly lives out of his car and stays with a rotating cast of friends and relatives, she said.
Berlin said the investigation is ongoing, but there appears to have been no connection between Urban and Sanders.
"This was a violent, horrific attack on a completely innocent victim who had every right to feel safe in her own home," Berlin said.
In the early days after the attack, Hinsdale police had said there were no indications that Urban’s death was a random act.
"There were indications at the scene that we used to draw those conclusions," Hinsdale Director of Public Safety Brad Bloom said Saturday. He declined to elaborate, though, citing the ongoing investigation.
Many Hinsdale residents were unsettled by the homicide and wanted more details.
"I was glad they caught someone," said Nick Schmooz of Hinsdale. But he doubts her killer chose Urban randomly, "especially because she was in her home. It was not like she out walking the streets at night," he said.
Monica Pajak, who lives on Urban’s block, said she was angry because "the Hinsdale police said it wasn’t a random act, but it sounds like it was."
Thinking that Urban’s killer was someone who knew Urban had made her feel safer, she said.
Her husband, Christopher Pajak, is not critical of the information from the police department.
"The police are allowed to mislead people because they want to get at the truth," he said. "If you say something like, ‘it’s not random,’ it makes it more understandable and less threatening."
What puzzles Christopher Pajak is the crime was committed on a relatively busy corner.
Urban’s home is in a residential neighborhood, but it’s on a corner across the street from a park and next to a house under construction.
People walk to and from the park, and construction workers were coming and going, he said.
"From a criminal’s standpoint, why would you pick a place like that?" Christopher Pajak said.
Mistie and Nathan Lucht said the amount of activity could have complicated the police’s investigation.
Construction workers were parked up and down the street, Mistie Lucht said. Thursday was garbage day, too, with trucks going down the street.
They were not anxious that three weeks passed before the police made an arrest, they just wanted to know the investigation was done right.
"The police were there 24/7," Mistie Lucht said. "We were questioned multiple times," including twice on the day of the murder, she said.
She and her children were away from the house for a birthday party on May 4, so she did not see anything unusual until after the murder was discovered.
For a week after the crime, the police had the sidewalk cordoned off, and detectives still were walking around, chatting with neighbors, she said.
Urban’s murder was "very sad and tragic," said Mistie Lucht. "Finding out it was completely random and so violent makes it more shocking and disturbing."
Sanders is next due in court on June 19 for arraignment.
Berlin said the investigation is still ongoing and urged anyone with information to contact the Hinsdale police.
Urban, an actress who was battling leukemia, was a single mother with two children, a son who graduated from Hinsdale Central High School this week and a daughter in fifth grade at Monroe Elementary School.
Urban also was an advocate for medical marijuana, which she used in coping with her cancer.
She grew up in Hinsdale and lived in New York and Russia before returning to the area to raise her children. Her funeral was held May 20 at the church she attended, Hinsdale Covenant Church.
Clifford Ward is a freelance reporter. Kimberly Fornek is a staff reporter for Pioneer Press.
kfornek@pioneerlocal.com
Twitter @kfdoings
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