Prosecutor: Former co-worker killed Hanover Pk. woman during burglary

Before her violent death, Pamela Sue Howat suspected a troubled former co-worker might be breaking into her Hanover Park home to feed his drug addiction.

Authorities said her fears proved prophetic.

A DuPage County judge Tuesday ordered Ronald O'Rourke, 46, held without bond on charges alleging first-degree murder, home invasion and residential burglary.

The Crystal Lake man is accused of stabbing Howat early Saturday in her home near County Farm Road and Lawrence Avenue, the fourth murder to rock the village in recent weeks.

A friend discovered the 51-year-old Howat's body about 6 p.m. Saturday. She suffered as many as 10 stab wounds about her neck and head. Her neck also was slashed.

Prosecutor Joseph Ruggiero said Howat surprised her attacker after arriving home from the Bartlett Fresh Market, where she last was seen alive about 9:30 a.m. Her body was found lying on some of the grocery bags; others still remained in her car.

The DuPage County Major Crimes Task Force was called in to assist local police. Ruggiero said authorities quickly focused in on O'Rourke, who has a history of violence against women.

"He became an immediate suspect," Ruggiero said. "The victim's son and a friend said (Howat) suspected he had been breaking into her house."

It's unclear if Howat ever officially reported her suspicions to police. She and O'Rourke met in late 2005 at Senior Flexonics, where Howat was employed for nearly 14 years as an assembly machine operator.

O'Rourke labored there just two weeks as a contractual worker but the Bartlett-based company never hired him, said Eddy Rojas, human resources director.

He said a counselor was brought in Tuesday to help Howat's grieving co-workers, who are raising money for her family.

"She worked here a long time, so it's had a big impact on our employees," Rojas said. "She was just so humble and simple. You just can't imagine how someone could harm a person like that. She was so nice to people. In fact, some younger folks here saw her as their second mom."

Authorities said Howat, a divorced mother known for her kind heart, likely had tried to help O'Rourke.

Ruggiero said O'Rourke, described as a "lifelong crack addict," voluntarily came to the Hanover Park police station for questioning. He gave police several videotaped statements, the prosecutor said, but eventually admitted stabbing Howat after she interrupted the burglary. O'Rourke insisted, however, it was in self-defense after she came at him with gardening shears.

Authorities still are searching for the murder weapon. Besides the videotaped statements, Ruggiero said, police also obtained O'Rourke's phone records that show he called Howat's house at 7:43 a.m. the day of her murder.

O'Rourke, a former truck driver, served six months in an Oregon prison for stabbing a prostitute in the face in 2004. She survived. In that crime, O'Rourke also said he acted in self-defense.

But a review of McHenry County court records shows a history of allegations of violence against women.

His first wife cited "mental cruelty" in ending their six-year marriage in 1991. The former couple have a 23-year-old son.

In 1996, O'Rourke pleaded guilty to battering his second wife and was placed on one-year court supervision and ordered to pay a $100 fine. She divorced him shortly later.

A former girlfriend obtained a two-week emergency order of protection against O'Rourke in July 2002 after she accused him of threatening to kill her dogs and burn down her Harvey house during an argument.

Then, on Feb. 2, 2004, another woman from Crystal Lake with whom O'Rourke has a daughter obtained a two-year protective order against him alleging he threatened to kill her after she arrived home late from work. In the order, she accused him of prior physical abuse and mentioned a pending Cook County domestic battery case between the two.

O'Rourke was charged in August 2004 with battery on suspicion he struck her with his keys, causing a cut over her eye, during a dispute outside a Crystal Lake tavern. While that case was pending, O'Rourke fled to Oregon, where he had the encounter with the prostitute.

The Crystal Lake woman obtained a second protective order against him Feb. 3, 2005, after he called her collect from an Oregon prison to report he was heading back to Illinois.

O'Rourke pleaded guilty in July 2006 to battering the woman during the 2004 key incident. He was sentenced to 24 months' probation, ordered to pay a $500 fine and to spend 180 days in the McHenry County jail.

He later was ordered to serve an additional two weekends behind bars for violating a no-contact order by calling the woman's Deerfield workplace three times.

She declined to comment Tuesday, but in the Feb. 3, 2005, protective order, she wrote: "Now that I know what he's capable of doing, I'm petrified. He has a history of domestics with me and now I'm afraid he just may kill me."

Howat's violent death is the fourth murder in Hanover Park in recent weeks. Police made arrests in three of the four, none of which appear to be random violence.

Jahaziel Duron, 16, is charged with the Saturday stabbing of Diontae Roberts, 23, who was killed during a gang fight. Also, Norma Favela, a 31-year-old pregnant mother of two, was killed in her Hanover Park home last week. Her boyfriend, Rafael Alvarado, 32, is charged with her murder and the death of her unborn child.

Police still are hunting the killer of Jesus Sanchez, 16, gunned down May 23 less than one block from his home on Mulberry Street in a gang-related attack.

Prosecutors charged O'Rourke late Monday with Howat's murder. The Brust Funeral Home is handling her arrangements, which Howat's family has requested remain private.

O'Rourke is due back in DuPage County court July 13.

• Daily Herald staff writers Chuck Keeshan and Ashok Selvam contributed to this report.

Fears: Suspect has been accused of violence several times