Ex-Woodridge couple await kidnap plot sentences

Days after an earlier break-in, the frightened Glendale Heights family was sleeping together in a master bedroom when the sound of footsteps awoke the daughter.

She peeked into the hall and screamed.

Two men wearing wigs, surgical masks, latex gloves and toting pillows were heading her way. One held a gun; the other a meat cleaver.

They kicked the bedroom door off its frame and ordered the four family members to get on the bed and be quiet. But the 28-year-old daughter quickly dialed 911 on her cell phone. The intruders fled.

The family was unharmed, but authorities said the assailants behind the July 17, 2006, home invasion had a lot more on their minds than a simple burglary.

A husband and wife recently admitted their roles in the plot to kidnap one family member -- a bank employee -- and force her to help them rob the institution. The case against the third defendant still is pending in court.

Gregory J. Martin Jr., 26, formerly of Woodridge, pleaded guilty Dec. 19 to felony home invasion, conspiracy and attempted escape for a later incident while in jail awaiting trial. He faces six to 45 years in prison when sentenced early next year.

His wife, Larisa Sazhin-Martin, 30, the getaway driver, pleaded guilty Nov. 28 to felony home invasion.

DuPage Circuit Judge Michael Burke denied her request Thursday to visit her jailed husband while she is free on bond. Her sentencing is set for Jan. 7.

Police nabbed Gregory Martin the morning of the home invasion hiding in brush on the Glendale Lakes Golf Course, which abuts the Fullerton Avenue home. Authorities said they also recovered a loaded semiautomatic pistol, handcuffs, a stopwatch, a meat cleaver, two wigs, a surgical mask, gloves, rolls of gray duct tape and medical tape, and discarded clothing on the course.

Three months later, they tracked down the third defendant, William A. Hancock, 28, in Claremont, N.H. He is due in court Jan. 4.

Prosecutors said the trio targeted a family member who is a teller at Mutual Bank in Downers Grove. Her duties include opening the bank and deactivating its alarm.

One week before the home invasion, she complained to police that someone followed her home. Two days later, she and her husband reported an attempted burglary in which someone used garden sheers to pry open a garage window.

Afterward, the frightened family began sleeping together in the same room.

In the second break-in, July 17, 2006, the assailants also gained entry through the garage, then crawled through an attic, where they cut through drywall, and climbed down into a family room. The daughter's scream awoke the rest of her family. Police said the assailants fled after learning she dialed 911.