Investigators were at a west suburban Addison home for roughly 15 hours Friday before taking down the crime scene tape and leaving without confirmation of what happened there.
A slashed window provided the only clue of what neighbors said took place in the home on the 900 block of Craig Place: Martha Worley was left critically injured after being stabbed multiple times by her enraged husband.
The woman later died at the hospital, sources told NBC Chicago.
"She's really bad and I'm just praying that she can make it," family friend Maritta Navarro said hours earlier. Navarro said she was in the home enjoying a pizza dinner with the family just hours before the violence erupted.
Neighbor Miguel Lopez said the woman was covered in blood when she was taken to an ambulance on a stretcher. Her husband, he said, was in far better condition with only a neck brace.
The couple's 15-year-old son was also injured while reportedly trying to protect his mom. He was still in the hospital Friday afternoon but was expected to recover.
Neighbors who declined to be identified said they heard screams coming from the home. Police wrestled with the husband when they arrived on the scene, neighbors said.
"I cannot imagine because I was here last night and everything was just normal," Navarro said through tears.
Another neighbor, Linda Verra, said the couple long had marital problems and that the husband had told her in the past that he wanted to leave.
The couple share a daughter. Worley's two sons are from a previous relationship.
As of Friday evening, police would only say the case was a domestic disturbance and declined to offer any other details.
