DuPage judge denies convicted killer’s request for trial

A former Westmont man who had second thoughts about pleading guilty to his wife’s murder missed — by one day — a deadline to try to undo the plea, a judge said Tuesday.

“He’s a day late, and a day late might as well be 101 days late,” DuPage County Judge Kathryn Creswell said.

Creswell was responding to a request by Ian Alamilla, 35, to vacate his guilty plea in the April 2010 strangulation killing of his wife, Tara Alamilla, in Westmont.

The defendant, whom Creswell sentenced to 25 years in December, said in a Jan. 22 letter to the judge that he felt “coerced” into pleading guilty to first-degree murder by his public defender. He asked the judge for a trial, saying it would show he “was not acting with any intent to kill.”

But Creswell said she was unable to consider the filing, dated one day beyond the 30-day time frame during which Alamilla could legally challenge his pleading.

At sentencing, Alamilla said he was “deeply” sorry for choking the 34-year-old victim to death during an argument the morning of their daughter’s 5th birthday.

Creswell said she took into account that Alamilla surrendered voluntarily and had pleaded guilty when she sentenced him to 25 years. Alamilla, a Belize native, is serving the sentence at downstate Menard Correctional Center.