No Bail For Man Accused of Killing Estranged Wife

Woman's injuries were described in the criminal complaint as "violent and brutal"

A northwest suburban Chicago man accused of brutally killing his estranged wife who was trying to hide from him in Wisconsin was ordered held Friday without bond.

Cristian Loga-Negru, 38, of Arlington Heights appeared in a Racine County courtroom and was charged with first-degree intentional homicide, mayhem and kidnapping.

An autopsy performed Thursday indicated the woman's cause of death was multiple chop wounds and blunt force injuries, which included chop wounds, lacerations and bruises to her head and brain. She also suffered chop wounds to her right hand and lacerations to her left hand.

According to the criminal complaint, Mount Pleasant Police responded Wednesday night to a domestic violence call about a screaming woman being dragged from a home to the back of an SUV.

A responding officer said he saw drag marks through the snow outside and a black, metal hatchet with strands of what appeared to be human hair and blood, the complaint stated. The trail of blood led back to a house in the 600 block of Calvin Lane, according to the complaint, and the officer said he also found two fingers.

The woman had been staying at the residence with her boss and his wife for about a month to hide from Loga-Negru because she feared for her life, according to the complaint. The woman and Loga-Negru were married in July.

Officers then were called to a Super 8 Motel in Mount Pleasant for reports of a woman with an ax or hatchet injury to her head.

The criminal complaint stated an officer responding to the motel found the SUV in the parking lot and a man later identified as Loga-Negru standing over a woman in the backseat.

The woman's injuries were described in the complaint as "violent and brutal." The officer said the woman's body was lifeless and covered in blood, and her head had multiple deep gashes.

According to the complaint, Loga-Negru asked responding officers if they could give him the death penalty and asked them to shoot him. Loga-Negru was arrested, and the woman was flown to Froedtert Hospital, where was pronounced dead at 9:39 p.m.

Investigators discovered Loga-Negru had rented a room at the motel on Tuesday, the complaint stated.

Loga-Negru's father was in the room, according to the complaint, and told police he flew from Romania on Sunday to deal with his son who told him Arlington Heights confiscated a firearm from him about three weeks ago.

The father told police Loga-Negru had left the room earlier in the night and said he would be gone for about an hour. When Loga-Negru returned, he stood in the doorway with a substantial amount of blood on his pants and shirt, his father told police.

When the father asked Loga-Negru what happened, Loga-Negru said he killed his wife and that she was in the car, according to the complaint.

Prosecutors said they believe Loga-Negru wanted to flee to his home country of Romania after the attack. The public defender's office ordered a competency evaluation for Loga-Negru set for Dec 11.

A local women's resource center scheduled a vigil for the woman Friday night in Racine.

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