A woman accused of stabbing her parents to death in northwest suburban Arlington Heights had journaled about killing them before the gruesome attack that took place just after her family had dinner with their neighbors, prosecutors said.
The 43-year-old woman charged with first-degree murder, Deborah J. Martin, was ordered held without bond by a judge Monday.
Martin is accused of stabbing her mother seven times in the chest and stabbing her father six times in the chest, bicep, knee and neck, prosecutors said.
Just after 12:30 a.m. Saturday, officers responded to a call of a well-being check in the first block of South Derbyshire Lane, police said. First responders forced their way into the home after they saw an unresponsive woman "with obvious signs of violence" on the kitchen floor.
Anne P. Martin, 71, and David G. Martin, 72, were found in the home with traumatic injuries and "without any signs of life," police said.
Paramedics pronounced the pair dead at the scene, police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office said. Their deaths were ruled as homicides.
While authorities attended to the couple, Deborah Martin allegedly came down the stairs from the second floor and confronted the officers, police said. She was arrested and taken to a police station for questioning.
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The Cook County State’s Attorney’s office approved charges after an extensive investigation which included forensic evidence, many interviews, a review of dispatch audio and physical evidence, police said.
Prosecutors said in court Monday that police found a journal in Martin's room detailing how she wanted to kill her parents with a knife. They also said police found a receipt from May 1 for the purchase of a knife matching the description of the murder weapon.
According to prosecutors, the family had dinner with their neighbors the night of the attack.
Deborah Martin allegedly stabbed her parents multiple times and then showered before she was arrested at the scene, prosecutors said.
She is next scheduled to appear in court June 27.
