Jealous ex held on $5 million bond in Aurora murder
He suggested they celebrate an amendment to the protection order that would allow him to see her. But when he caught her texting another man, he beat her and strangled her to death, prosecutors charged Monday.
Bond was set at $5 million for Jose Loera, 35, of 3845 Gabrielle Lane, Aurora, accused of killing his ex-girlfriend in a fit of jealous rage.
Loera is charged with strangling Heather Jacobi, 32, of the 100 block of Gregory Lane, with her own scarf late Friday or early Saturday. Prosecutors said he became enraged when he discovered she had been texting and exchanging social media messages with another man. Jacobi put up a fight, prosecutors said, clawing away at Loera's face, leaving marks still visible during Monday's bond hearing.
Prosecutors said Loera then used the former DuPage County Jail nurse's own stethoscope to confirm she was dead before taking several pill bottles from her house and fleeing to his house. Once there, Loera took several more pills and passed out in a suicide attempt.
“He said he wanted to kill himself so he could be with her,” Assistant State's Attorney Tim Diamond said during the bond hearing.
Jacobi, on two different occasions, has had orders of protection against Loera, after he had physically abused her and verbally abused her three children, Diamond said. The most recent order was still in place at the time of her death.
Just Friday morning Loera was in DuPage County court to have the order of protection amended to allow him to contact Jacobi but to have “no harmful or offensive contact with her.”
Diamond said Loera then contacted Jacobi to take her out to “celebrate” the change in status of the protection order. But she wanted to stay in, so Loera went to her home.
“While he was in her home he noticed (Jacobi) was receiving text messages and Facebook posts from men and he became enraged,” Diamond said. “(Jacobi) tried to walk out to have a smoke and he grabbed her and struck her across the head several times. He told investigators he struck her more than once but less than 100 times.”
While she was laying face down, Diamond said, Loera wrapped the scarf around her neck, put his knees in her back and pulled.
Jacobi's mother asked police to check on her about 7:30 a.m. Saturday after she failed to show up for work, Diamond said. When police entered the home, they found the woman dead with the knotted scarf still around her neck.
Diamond said Loera called his brother about 1:30 a.m. Saturday, before taking the pills. His brother called police, and when officers entered his home Loera was unconscious, but breathing.
Diamond said when Loera woke up in a hospital Sunday morning, he asked the nurse how he got there, then told her he “may have killed Heather and that someone should go check on her.”
Loera faces 20 to 100 years if convicted and will appear next in court on May 5. Until that time, he is being held in Kendall County Jail for his safety and to avoid any conflicts that may arise from Jacobi's previous position as jail nurse.