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No bond for man charged in Glen Ellyn slaying

Prosecutors say stabbing followed an argument over relationship

A DuPage County judge denied bond Wednesday for a homeless man charged with repeatedly stabbing his girlfriend and burying her in a Glen Ellyn park.

Myron Ester, 45, is accused of slaying 33-year-old Linda Valez last week after an argument over their relationship.

Prosecutors said Valez, a mother of seven, was stabbed in the face, neck and torso. An autopsy uncovered 34 wounds, including defensive marks on her arms.

The victim’s mother called police after Valez missed a Sept. 25 appointment to look at an apartment with a friend.

Police found her body in a shallow grave Saturday at Panfish Park, 620 Wilson Ave., and quickly focused the investigation on Ester, Assistant State’s Attorney Tim Diamond said in court.

Prosecutors described the couple as homeless and said they had a volatile relationship. Ester “routinely” beat Valez and recently threatened to kill her when she talked about leaving him, they said.

“The defendant indicated that if he could not have her, no one could,” Diamond said.

Surveillance footage showed them leaving the McDonald’s restaurant on Roosevelt Road in Glen Ellyn together on Sept. 24. About 2 a.m. the next day, Diamond said, Ester sought medical treatment for a cut on his hand.

Diamond said Ester then went to a friend’s Naperville home and confessed to killing Valez. When the friend suggested they call police, Ester laughed and said he didn’t kill her but had broken up with her, Diamond said.

Investigators took Ester into custody on Sunday. He told police he and Valez were drinking alcohol at Panfish Park when they began arguing about their relationship and she came at him with a knife, authorities said.

Diamond said Ester claimed he grabbed the knife and threw it to the ground, then “blacked out.”

The murder weapon has not been recovered.

Glen Ellyn police found the shallow grave where Valez was buried after noticing a “drag pattern” and foot traffic in a park clearing. Her body was exhumed Saturday.

State’s Attorney Bob Berlin called the killing “brutal and heinous.”

“It’s clear the defendant’s actions were personal,” he said, adding Ester has more than 40 prior arrests.

Judge Robert Kleeman ordered Ester held without bond based on the evidence outlined in court.

Authorities said Ester could be eligible for natural life in prison.

Valez’s mother, Gloria Araujo of Wheaton, wept as prosecutors detailed the injuries her daughter endured.

“It’s just sad my daughter had to die in such a brutal way,” Araujo told reporters outside of court.

Araujo said she has learned Valez was dating Ester for about six months.

She said she knew that her daughter, who battled mental illness and homelessness, was dead as soon as she went missing.

“I’m hoping my daughter’s death is not in vain,” she said. “Nobody (should) suffer what my daughter suffered.”

Araujo said Valez was heavily involved with the DuPage PADS homeless shelter and recently began working at the Glen Ellyn McDonald’s where she and Ester were seen last week.

The judge appointed the public defender’s office to represent Ester, who returns to court Tuesday.

Linda Valez
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