Son indicted in Aurora man’s stabbing death

A man accused of stabbing to death his 63-year-old father at an extended-stay hotel in Westmont has been indicted on five counts of first-degree murder, prosecutors said Wednesday.

William V. Clifford, 32, faces a minimum prison sentence of 20 to 60 years if convicted of the May 28 slaying at Homestead Studio Suites on the 800 block of North Pasquinelli Drive. He was indicted Tuesday by a DuPage County grand jury.

Clifford is accused of fatally stabbing his father, also named William Clifford, about 1:10 p.m. after an altercation between the two erupted at the defendant’s suite.

Prosecutors said a witness reported hearing screams in a third-floor hallway and looked out to see the defendant on top of the victim, stabbing him repeatedly. That witness later identified the defendant in a lineup, authorities said.

The victim, who resided in Aurora, had rented the suite for his son about a month earlier — after the defendant was kicked out of a Chicago YMCA for having alcohol in his room — and was there to visit, prosecutors said.

Police arrived to find the elder Clifford bleeding from several stab wounds, and he was pronounced dead a short time later at Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital in Downers Grove.

Prosecutors said the defendant fled the scene but quickly returned wearing a white T-shirt covered in blood and was taken into custody. He since has been ordered to undergo a psychological evaluation, according to court records.

The younger Clifford had no recent criminal history in DuPage, but authorities said he has prior arrests in California, South Dakota and Texas for fighting, drunken driving and possession of a stolen vehicle.

Clifford remained in the county jail Wednesday on $2 million bail and is scheduled for arraignment Monday before Judge Robert Kleeman in Wheaton. His public defender declined to comment.