Suspect in Elk Grove Village stabbing death to remain behind bars

A man charged with fatally stabbing a woman whose body was found last week outside an Elk Grove Village hotel will remain behind bars while he awaits trial, a Cook County judge ruled Wednesday.

Arturo F. Taylor, 54, is charged with first-degree murder in the death of longtime girlfriend Colleen Bagley, also of Fox Lake.

Prosecutors say Bagley, 50, dated Taylor for about nine years and lived with him for the last two at an extended-stay hotel in the 2400 block of Landmeier Road.

According to prosecutors, Taylor and Bagley argued on Feb. 21 about one of the hotel’s female residents. They allege Taylor strangled Bagley then stabbed her in the chest with a folding blade knife and a large butcher knife, both of which Elk Grove police recovered from the room.

Authorities say the hotel’s video surveillance captured Taylor carrying a pink garbage bag and walking toward dumpsters in the hotel parking lot at about 1:57 a.m. Feb. 25.

Several hours later, prosecutors say, a person walking near the dumpsters found Bagley’s body wrapped in a white blanket with a blue check pattern.

The Cook County medical examiner’s office determined she died from multiple sharp force injuries and ruled her death a homicide.

Suspected blood stains and drag marks led from the dumpster to the room where authorities say the couple were living, prosecutors say. Police recovered the defendant’s jeans and gym shoes stained with what they suspected was blood, as well as a pillow with the same pattern as the blanket that wrapped Bagley’s body, according to prosecutors.

Taylor was on the scene and agreed to talk with authorities at the police department, where prosecutors say he attempted to harm himself. Released from the hospital several hours later, Taylor told police he strangled and stabbed Bagley after he says she “pulled a pocket knife on him,” according to prosecutors.

Police say Taylor told them he attempted to clean up with bleach but became too tired. They say he put Bagley’s body in a suitcase and threw it down the stairs. Unable to life the suitcase into the dumpster, he placed it alongside the dumpster, according to prosecutors.

If convicted, Taylor faces between 20 and 60 years in prison. His next court appearance in March 20.