Streamwood man guilty of stabbing estranged wife in Hoffman Estates
A Streamwood man who stabbed his estranged wife in her abdomen as she left her Hoffman Estates home for work two years ago was found guilty of attempted murder.
Filiberto Calderon was also found guilty of aggravated domestic battery and domestic battery after a three-day bench trial before Cook County Judge Steven Goebel.
Calderon, 40, faces six to 30 years in prison when he is sentenced, possibly as early as Jan. 14, his next court date.
Derrick Ruffin, Calderon's friend for 20 years, testified that on the evening of Sept. 2, 2017, Calderon told him he intended to hurt his estranged wife, who he believed was cheating on him.
The two were hanging out at the laundromat where Ruffin works when the intoxicated Calderon made those statements, Ruffin said.
"He said he was going to hurt (the woman)," Ruffin said.
Ruffin said Calderon opened his jacket and showed him the knife, whose handle was visible. Ruffin testified he believed the knife was a machete but later learned it was a butcher knife.
Appearing upset, Ruffin recoiled when Assistant Cook County State's Attorney Christina Morrison asked him in court to identify the weapon.
Ruffin had asked Calderon to give him the weapon, but Calderon refused and left, Ruffin said.
About three hours later, Ruffin said, he called police.
"I didn't think he would do it," Ruffin said, "(but) it kept bothering me."
About 5 a.m. the next day, Calderon stabbed the victim. The woman was released from the hospital three days later and has recovered, authorities said.
Ruffin testified Calderon called him around 6 a.m. Sept. 3, telling Ruffin he hurt his wife and asking him to check on her. Ruffin did. When Calderon called him back a couple of hours later, Ruffin told Calderon she was OK and at the hospital.
While cross-examining Dr. Amy Stewart, the trauma surgeon who treated the victim at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, Assistant Cook County Public Defender Calvin Aguilar pointed out the woman suffered only one stab wound.
"One is all you need to be life-threatening," said Stewart, who testified for the prosecution. "If the stab wound was millimeters deeper, it would have hit a vital organ."