Glen Ellyn killer sentenced to life for 2013 Panfish Park slaying
When Myron Ester killed his sometimes girlfriend, Linda Valez, he buried her in a hole that was about 6 feet long, 6 feet wide and 18 inches deep in Glen Ellyn's Panfish Park.
Now he will live the rest of his days in a space not much larger.
Ester, 50, was sentenced by DuPage County Judge Brian Telander Tuesday to natural life in prison without the possibility of parole plus an additional five years for the concealment of the homicide.
On Sept. 25, 2013, Glen Ellyn police responded to a missing-person report. Through the course of their investigation, officers went to Panfish Park where Valez, 33, was known to spend time.
Three days later, while at the park, officers discovered a disturbed area of vegetation and drops of blood. Further examination revealed a shallow grave, barely containing Valez's body.
Prosecutors say Ester stabbed Valez 39 times after a fight about infidelity and left her body in the grave that he dug earlier in the day in Panfish Park on the night of Sept. 24, 2013.
Valez, a mother of seven, was stabbed in the face, neck and torso. An autopsy uncovered 39 wounds, including defensive marks on her arms.
The next day, Ester visited a longtime friend in Naperville and confessed to the killing, but she never called police. Ester was arrested at her home on Sept. 29.
"With each of the 39 plunges of the knife, (Ester's) premeditated murder not only took Linda from those who loved her, but he also cut the very fabric of society," DuPage State's Attorney Robert Berlin said in a written statement. " Judge Telander's sentence today ensures that (Ester) will be forever removed from society, locked behind closed doors where he will spend the remainder of his days behind bars where his memories of freedom will fade with each passing day."
A DuPage County jury deliberated for about two hours on Jan. 17 before convicting Ester.