Retired Chicago cop accused of killing wife in Spring Grove

A retired Chicago police officer faces a murder charge after he shot and killed his wife in their Spring Grove home, police said Monday.

Lorin E. Volberding, 71, was being held at the McHenry County jail on $100,000 bail, court records show.

Spring Grove police found the body of Elizabeth M. Volberding, 68, also a retired Chicago police officer, in the kitchen about 1:23 p.m. Friday with a gunshot wound to her neck, police said.

It likely is the town's first murder, said police Chief Thomas Sanders, who has lived in Spring Grove all his life and served as police chief for 10 years.

"I don't know that we've ever had one in the village."

Police did a well-being check after a neighbor called 911. They entered the home through unlocked sliding doors, Sanders said.

The neighbor received a voicemail from Lorin saying somebody in the house had been shot, he added.

He was lying awake on the floor on his back and taken into custody, Sanders said.

Police had been called to the home for disputes in January and September 2015.

In January 2015, Elizabeth Volberding called police saying her husband was barricaded inside the home with weapons. Police forced their way into the house.

"When we found him he was on the floor in the basement intoxicated," Sanders said. "There were no weapons around him."

No charges were filed against Lorin Volberding but his Firearm Owners Identification card was revoked.

Elizabeth Volberding got an order of protection against her husband; it expired Feb. 5, 2015 and wasn't renewed. On Feb. 13, she presented a FOID card to take back three guns that had been confiscated by police, Sanders said.

Lorin Volberding called police in September 2015 saying his wife was being verbally abusive. Neither was taken into custody, Sanders said.

Volberding is due in court Tuesday.