The ex-husband of a Wheaton woman who after years of domestic troubles recently won a nearly $35,000 judgment against him is facing murder charges after her violent death, authorities said.
Bail was set at $2 million for Lee M. Leinweber, 56, at a hearing Tuesday morning in DuPage County court, authorities said. He is charged with first-degree murder in the death of his ex-wife, Erin Leinweber, 58, court records showed. He was transferred to the County Jail late Monday, sheriff’s officials said.
Police were called to the woman’s longtime home in the 1300 block of Woodcutter Lane in Wheaton about 6:45 p.m. Saturday. Officers found her dead, with signs of trauma to her body, in her condo within the four-unit building, authorities said. The county coroner’s office said her death was a homicide.
The DuPage County Major Crimes Task Force was called in to help local police in the investigation. Police said they identified Lee Leinweber as a person of interest early in the investigation, but they did not locate him until late Sunday afternoon.
Erin Leinweber was a longtime DuPage County resident who had lived in her home for more than three decades, even before she married Lee Leinweber in January 1985, court records showed. They have an adult son together, and she has two older children — another son and a daughter — from her first marriage.
Police question person of interest in slaying of Wheaton woman Katherine Rosenberg-Douglas and Christy Gutowski
Police on Sunday were questioning a relative of a Wheaton woman found slain in her apartment Saturday night and asking for the public’s help finding two cars tied to the killing.
Authorities were called to a four-unit building in the 1300 block of Woodcutter Lane about 6:45 p.m. Saturday and found…
Police on Sunday were questioning a relative of a Wheaton woman found slain in her apartment Saturday night and asking for the public’s help finding two cars tied to the killing.
Authorities were called to a four-unit building in the 1300 block of Woodcutter Lane about 6:45 p.m. Saturday and found…
(Katherine Rosenberg-Douglas and Christy Gutowski)
Public records detailed a long history of acrimony between the Leinwebers. She filed paperwork for a legal separation from him in November 2004 and accused her husband of "extreme and repeated mental cruelty," court records showed. The wife sought a divorce in March 2006, less than six months after an argument in their home that she alleged escalated into physical abuse.
In her September 2005 emergency order of protection, she wrote: "Lee has been very violent before and has hit me before this date. I have called the Wheaton police to step in (and) save me from being hit. When he pushed me today I had the wind knocked out of me. I have (multiple sclerosis). I hurt all the time. I’m scared of him."
Lee Leinweber was arrested on suspicion of misdemeanor domestic battery, but he was found not guilty during a May 2006 court hearing. In the complaint, it was alleged he had "placed his hand upon the neck of Erin Leinweber and pushed her against the wall of the hallway in their residence." It was unclear from court records what led to the court finding.
Their divorce was granted in February 2009, and as part of the judgment, Lee Leinweber was ordered to pay her $285 a month for maintenance until 2050 or until his ex-wife remarried, whichever came first, court records said. Months later, the ex-husband petitioned the court to reduce the monthly payments after he said he lost his job, but the request was dismissed after he failed to show up for a hearing. He also had file for federal bankruptcy protection in 2005, listing nearly $130,000 in debt.
Lee Leinweber held various jobs over the years, including in Elgin, Braidwood and New Lenox. In October 2016, a judge ordered the defendant pay her nearly $35,000 in back support and interest, the public record showed. His last known addresses were in Carbon Hill and Coal City.
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Erin Leinweber had been chronically ill for several years and received Social Security disability benefits. Her ailments included multiple sclerosis, lupus and a brain aneurysm, she wrote in various court documents. She worked for the research consulting firm Millward Brown in Naperville for 25 years until summer 2003, public records showed.
Attempts to reach members of her family were not successful.
Check back for an update.
cmgutowski@chicagotribune.com
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