Arlington Heights man pleads no contest to killing wife in Wisconsin
RACINE, Wis. - An Arlington Heights man accused of hacking his wife to death in Wisconsin has taken a plea deal, more than a month before he was slated to go on trial.
The Journal Times of Racine reports that 39-year-old Cristian Loga-Negru of Arlington Heights pleaded no contest Friday to first-degree intentional homicide in the 2014 slaying. He's accused of killing 36-year-old Roxana Abrudan in Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin, where she went to stay with her boss to hide from her husband.
Despite the plea deal, Loga-Negru will still stand trial in July. The judge will determine whether he was mentally fit at the time and able to understand the actions of which he is accused were wrong. Loga-Negru's attorney says the defendant is currently competent.
Abrudan and Loga-Negru, both of Arlington Heights, had married in July 2014, but the relationship turned violent soon after, according to an order of protection Abrudan had obtained against her husband.
She eventually fled their Arlington Heights condo and found refuge in late October in the Mount Pleasant home of her boss and his wife.
That is where authorities say Loga-Negru tracked her in November 2014.
Authorities said Loga-Negru waited for her in a rented SUV, wearing black gloves, a stocking cap, binoculars and a hatchet.
He attacked her with the hatchet, which he left behind, dragging her body through the snow and into a car and driving back to his motel, where police apprehended him.
Abrudan died later that night at a Milwaukee hospital, having received "multiple chop wounds and blunt force injuries," according to the Milwaukee medical examiner.
Police said Loga-Negru did not fight back but asked that officers shoot him, according to records.
After searching Loga-Negru's motel room nearby, police found multiple passports, including a Romanian one, and ID cards, paperwork regarding the Cook County restraining order, and a box for the hatchet used in the attack.
Police also found Loga-Negru's wallet with a credit card and a receipt that showed he had attempted to purchase a .40-caliber pistol from a local sporting goods store but was not able to, according to records.
At the time of the killing, Racine County District Attorney W. Richard Chiapete said, "This is as brutal a case as I think we will ever see."
Chiapete said investigators believe Loga-Negru intended to kill Abrudan and flee to Romania, where he emigrated from years earlier.
Arlington Heights police said they had visited Loga-Negru's residence several times for domestic calls and had helped Abrudan obtain a temporary restraining order.
According to an order of protection filing of Nov. 3, 2014, Abrudan told authorities that Loga-Negru beat her two times since they got married in July.
On July 16, she said, he head-butted her several times, causing a nosebleed, and dragged her into their bedroom where he kicked her, leaving bruises and scratches on her hands, face and legs, it said.
On Oct. 2, she said, Loga-Negru punched her in the arm while they were driving. A co-worker later noticed bruises, according to court documents.
Loga-Negru told his wife numerous times that he would kill her, threatening to "put a bullet in her head" or "hire a guy to kill her," according to the documents. He also said he had a gun under the bed.
On Oct. 29, Abrudan wrote that Loga-Negru followed her to work and demanded they talk. She said she was too busy.
"You want me to come over there and make you available?" he responded, according to the documents.
Fearing for her safety, she didn't return home.