No bond in Hoffman Estates stabbing deaths

Before a Rolling Meadows courtroom packed with the stunned relatives and friends of the victims, a Cook County judge today ordered D'Andre D. Howard to remain held without bond in the stabbing deaths that devastated a Hoffman Estates family.

Howard was charged with three counts of first-degree murder and three counts of attempted unlawful restraint in the deaths of Alan Engelhardt, 57, his 18-year-old daughter, Laura, and her grandmother Marlene Gacek, 73.

Additionally, he was charged with one count of attempted first-degree murder in an attack on Shelly Engelhardt, 52 - wife of Alan and the mother of Laura Engelhardt. Shelly remained in critical condition Sunday evening in the intensive care unit at St. Alexius Medical Center in Hoffman Estates.

The Engelhardts and Gacek were victims of an attack early Friday.

In addition to the no-bond ruling, the judge also ordered that Howard can have no contact by e-mail phone or otherwise with members of the Engelhardt family, and he granted state motions to take DNA, footprint, palm and fingerprint samples from Howard to compare against evidence found at the scene of the slayings in the Engelhardts' Hoffman Estates home.

Meanwhile, family members and friends continued to struggle with details of the three funerals without knowing when they'll be held. The bodies of remained with authorities nearly three days after their murders at the family home.

"We can't really nail anything down because the (Cook County) medical examiner's office can't release the remains," said Rev. Bill Cate, associate pastor at St. Peter Lutheran Church in Schaumburg. No detail will be overlooked in this high-profile case, he explained.

Amid all the grief, there was a hint of promise for Shelly Engelhardt.

"They're talking about possibly moving her out of ICU," Cate said. "It was touch and go for awhile the first day. It could have been four homicides instead of three."

For the moment, that leaves Jeff Engelhardt, a junior at Southern Illinois University, to deal with the aftermath. He had been told of his father and grandmother's deaths but thought Laura was still fighting for life as he sped back home. She died while he was en route.

"He's being very, very mature," Cate said after meeting with Jeff and three other relatives Sunday afternoon. "He's being asked to make decisions no 20-year-old should have to make."

Howard, a 20-year-old ward of the state with a history of mental illness and criminal arrests, had been dating Amanda Engelhardt, 23, for three years, according to authorities, and they had a child together.

Amanda has been staying with relatives elsewhere, according to Cate.

"She's acknowledged my contact but that's it," he said.

The tragedy at the Engelhardt home stemmed from a quarrel between Amanda Engelhardt and Howard late Thursday over accusations of infidelity - an argument that began at their apartment on the 900 block of Evanston Street in Hoffman Estates, police said.

Howard ordered Engelhardt out and she left with their 8-month-old baby daughter to her parents' home on the 1000 block of Bluebonnet Lane.

Prosecutors allege Howard followed Amanda, and the argument continued at 1:30 a.m., waking up Shelly and Laura, who rushed down to the first floor to help.

"The defendant became increasingly angry," Cook County prosecutor Maria McCarthy said Saturday. "He grabbed a butcher knife and waved it in his girlfriend's face."

Howard pushed Shelly Engelhardt with the knife also, then used yarn to tie up the women and stuffed a sock in Laura's mouth. He was interrupted by Shelly's sister, who is disabled, and he ordered her to sit on the couch, McCarthy said.

At some point, Howard started to untie Laura, who seized the butcher knife and cut him on the arm. He wrestled the weapon away and slashed at her and Shelly.

The commotion drew Marilyn Gacek down to the kitchen where Howard killed her, McCarthy said.

The next victim was Alan Engelhardt, who confronted Howard in the kitchen. Howard slit Alan Engelhardt's throat, but before he died he managed to stagger into the family room where his teenage daughter and wife lay wounded.

The last family member to come on the scene was Alan's mother, who is 85. "She saw her son lying lifeless," McCarthy said.

Amanda, her daughter, her paternal grandmother and aunt did not sustain any physical injuries.

Howard was not present at the bond hearing Saturday because the injury caused by Laura needed medical attention. He was returned to Cook County Jail later that day and was being held there Sunday evening without bond, pending a hearing at 9 a.m. Monday in Cook County branch court in Rolling Meadows.

Cate said the funerals of Alan and Laura Engelhardt would be held at the his church but that Gacek's service would be at St. Hubert, a Catholic Church in Hoffman Estates.

He hasn't written the funeral sermon yet but knows it will deal with the resurrection of Christ and the chance to see all the loved ones who went before face to face. That general message is universal. Putting the personal reflections of those who are gone, particularly Laura, will be another matter, he said.

When he spoke with the Daily Herald Sunday evening, Cate, a former military law enforcement officer turned minister five years ago, said it was the first conversation he has had where he didn't choke up when talking about Laura.

"This is going to be hard," Cate said.

Laura was in his first class at St. Peter school and many of those classmates keep in touch. She was active in New Creation, a choir of high school-aged kids who perform at the church once a month or so.

A number of classmates met for a meal Saturday night and returned to the church at 9:30 p.m. They stayed two hours, Cate said, celebrating Laura.

"She was just one of those memorable kids," he recalled. "Somewhat mischievous. Laura knew how to have fun. Very social. She was one of those kids you couldn't get mad at."

Counselors at Conant High School, where Laura attended, are expected Monday to be in every class she had, to help fellow students deal with the empty chair.

• Daily Herald Staff Writer Marni Pyke contributed to this report.

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