Ex-husband charged in Wheaton woman's slaying
After using his dead ex-wife's credit card to buy a one-way ticket to Hawaii, Lee Leinweber told police he was set to "live out his days" on the beach.
But Ottawa officers caught up with the 56-year-old Leinweber leaving an Ottawa hotel and heading for the airport Sunday morning before he could get away.
Leinweber, who was identified as being unemployed and homeless, is charged with first-degree murder in the Jan. 30 slaying of his ex-wife, Erin Leinweber, 58, at her townhouse on the 1300 block of Woodcutter Lane in Wheaton. Judge Richard Russo set his bail at $2 million on Tuesday morning.
Assistant State's Attorney Tim Diamond said Leinweber, who has a history of domestic abuse, decided to kill his ex-wife on Jan. 30 after she accused him of stealing her face cream and swung a bag full of pills at him.
Diamond said Leinweber provided heinous details of the murder to police in two separate recorded interviews.
He assaulted Erin Leinweber in several ways, beating and ultimately suffocating her, the prosecutor said.
Diamond said Leinweber knew from watching "Law and Order" on television that he needed to make sure Erin was dead, so he continued assaulting the body even after she died.
After killing his ex-wife, Leinweber called her boss and told her she was sick and would be out for a few days, the prosecutor said. He then ransacked the apartment and left a note falsely implicating another family member in the murder.
He then bought alcohol and cigarettes and used cocaine as he "partied" at the Ottawa hotel in the days following the murder, Diamond said.
The prosecutor said Leinweber had $1 left in his pocket Sunday when he was arrested as he headed for O'Hare in his wife's red 2009 Kia Spectra.
Erin Leinweber's son called police about 6:45 p.m. Saturday when he found his mother dead after arriving at her home to take her to dinner.
"The sheer brutality alleged in this case is extremely disturbing," DuPage County State's Attorney Robert Berlin said in a written statement.
Erin Leinweber filed for a legal separation in 2004 and then for divorce in 2006 after Lee Leinweber was found not guilty of a September 2005 domestic violence charge. The divorce was finalized in 2009.
According to court records, things were quiet between the couple until October 2016 when Erin was awarded past maintenance and interest, totaling $34,688.18. The divorce decree states that her death is one of the events that would terminate any further maintenance obligation.
Prosecutors said police were at Erin's Wheaton residence three times in 2016, most recently on Dec. 28 when Leinweber threatened to kill Erin Leinweber with a knife and then commit "suicide by cop." Leinweber ultimately surrendered unharmed after a brief standoff and was not charged.
Leinweber faces between 20 and 60 years in prison if convicted of first-degree murder. His next court date is at 9 a.m. Feb. 21 in Courtroom 4010.