State won't seek death in Lincolnshire slaying

Lake County prosecutors said Thursday they will not seek the death penalty for a man accused of stabbing his wife to death in Lincolnshire last year.

Clarence Weber, 59, is also charged with trying to hire someone to kill two witnesses against him in the murder case.

Assistant State's Attorney Bolling Haxall told Associate Judge Theodore Potkonjak that State's Attorney Michael Waller had made the decision not to seek the death penalty after reviewing the facts of the case and consulting with the family of the victim, Adelina Weber.

Adelina Weber, 31, was killed July 5, 2008 as she sat in her car and talked with her husband in the parking lot of SpringHill Suites, 300 N. Marriott Drive.

The killing came just two days after he had been served with divorce papers and just two months after a suspicious fire destroyed the couple's Waukegan house shortly after she moved out.

Police say Weber fled the state after the murder and was captured three days later near LaPorte, Ind., after a massive police manhunt.

Ordered held without bond in the Lake County jail, Weber is accused of asking a fellow inmate to find someone to kill two witnesses against him and to severely beat a third.

The inmate told authorities of Weber's intentions, and secretly tape-recorded other conversations with Weber in which the threats were discussed, Haxall said.

Weber was eligible for the death penalty because his wife had an active order of protection against him at the time of her death.

He now faces a maximum sentence of life in prison, and another 20 to 60 years in prison if he is convicted of solicitation of murder for hire.

Weber is scheduled to appear in court Oct. 28 for the setting of a trial date.