Prosecutors: Schaumburg man beat father to death with sledgehammer

A 28-year-old Schaumburg man accused of beating his father to death with a sledgehammer in the family’s home was ordered Monday to remain in custody while awaiting trial.

Abhijit Patel is charged with first-degree murder in the killing Saturday of Anupam Patel, 67, at a residence on the 1100 block of South Salem Drive. If convicted he faces between 20 and 60 years in prison.

The elder Patel suffered at least two blows to his head, which fractured his skull and broke his nose, according to Cook County prosecutors. He was pronounced dead at 11:06 a.m. Saturday and his death was ruled a homicide.

Prosecutors said Abhijit has a “history of threatening to kill the victim,” who had an active order of protection that prohibited his son from physically abusing, harassing, stalking or having any unlawful contact with him. The order was entered on Jan. 3 and was set to expire on Jan. 4, 2027.

In ordering Abhijit’s Patel’s detention, Cook County Judge Andreana Turano noted the defendant’s history of psychiatric hospitalization and violence, his violation of the protective order, and his inability to “control his anger and violence toward others.” She also ordered that he have no contact with his mother, the victim’s wife.

According to Assistant Cook County State’s Attorney Nicolas Attia, Anupam Patel typically called his wife at work at 8 a.m. to check in. When he failed to do so Saturday morning, she tried calling her husband and son “to make sure everything was all right,” prosecutors said.

Worried, she returned home about 10:30 a.m. and encountered her son, who told her “he had taken care of his father and she should go check” on him, prosecutors said. She found her husband lying in bed covered in blood then called 911, Attia said.

Police arrived to find Abhijit’s Patel with his hands up and “apparent blood spatter” on his shirt, authorities say. A sledgehammer was found next to the bed.

Abhijit Patel previously had threatened to harm or kill his father, according to the petition for the order of protection, Attia said. The petition also indicates the defendant has schizophrenia and delusions that his father hurt him as a child, authorities said.

In November 2024, when the defendant was a student at the University of Illinois Chicago, he sent social media posts and group chats to other students that were disturbing in nature to other students, prosecutors say. He was subsequently removed from campus and told he had to see a psychiatrist before he returned to school, authorities said.

Abhijit Patel is scheduled to return to court Dec. 19.