Trial starts for Villa Park woman accused of killing lover

The night her live-in lover was murdered, Nicole Abusharif partied with another woman who ended up spending the night in the Villa Park couple's home.

But Abusharif maintains she did not have a motive to kill her partner, Becky Klein, because the couple had an open relationship.

A DuPage County jury began hearing evidence Wednesday into the March 15, 2007, murder as the highly anticipated trial opened.

Abusharif, 28, has pleaded innocent to charges alleging first-degree murder and concealment of a homicide. The two women were in a romantic relationship for about six years.

Abusharif is accused of using a plastic bag to suffocate Klein, 32, then dumping her body in the trunk of the couple's 1966 Ford Mustang in the garage of their home on Harvard Avenue.

Police found Klein's body that March 17. The plastic garbage bag still was taped around her head. Her hands and feet also were bound with the duct tape.

Her mother, Marilyn Klein of Streamwood, fought back tears Wednesday while identifying photos of her youngest child, who worked with handicapped adults, before an attentive jury in the packed courtroom.

Prosecutor Joseph Ruggiero said forensic experts linked Abusharif to the murder after finding her fingerprints on the tape and garbage bags, as well as her DNA on bandannas used to gag and blindfold Klein.

As for motive, the prosecutor argued Abusharif had another lover whom she brought back home after the two bowled together in Tinley Park. He said Abusharif stood to benefit financially if Klein were gone because the couple had about $400,000 in life and mortgage insurance and in their savings.

Klein's sister, Melanie, testified she and Becky ate dinner together that night at the Villa Park house after decorating the basement for a family party they planned for that weekend. The sister said she left Becky, who was fine, about 7:20 p.m. She said Abusharif also was home. The doctor who performed the autopsy is expected to testify that Klein was killed within three hours of dinner because her food was not digested.

Ruggiero portrayed Abusharif as a chronic liar who was the last person to see Klein alive.

"Was it for the money or love and sex with the other woman? Probably both," Ruggiero said in his opening remarks. "Becky thought she was in a committed relationship, but she was going to find out that night how wrong she was."

But defense attorney Bob Parchem said the couple had an open relationship and that Klein knew about the other woman. He said it was physically impossible that his petite client could overpower Klein, who was older and had a larger frame, and load her body into a trunk.

He argued it is not surprising Abusharif's fingerprints were found at the crime scene as the couple was in the middle of packing away holiday decorations. He pointed out it was Abusharif who called 911, at the urging of Klein's father after the defendant told him she discovered the victim's abandoned work van not far from their house with the key still in the ignition.

Parchem said Abusharif lied to family, friends and police about going out with the other woman the night of the murder because she was afraid they wouldn't understand the couple's open relationship.

Parchem also attacked the police investigation and suggested officers were biased against Abusharif because of the lesbian relationship. He said the couple did have an argument that night, but that Klein was fine when Abusharif went to take a shower before leaving. He did not offer a theory as to who the defense thinks is the real killer.

"She sees Becky walk out the back door, but she never sees her leave," Parchem said. "She doesn't know what happened to Becky."

Abusharif is free on a $1 million bond. The trial before DuPage Circuit Judge John Kinsella is expected to stretch into next week. If convicted, Abusharif faces up to 60 years in prison.