Villa Park Couple Shot, Killed In Home: Police

VILLA PARK, IL – A Villa Park domestic battery suspect violated a court order by returning to his house, where officers found him and his wife dead, authorities said.

Winston Elguezabal, and his wife, Julie Elguezabal, both in their 40s, were fatally shot, police said.

Elguezabal was wearing an electronic monitoring device, which notified police that he was close to his wife, DuPage County State's Attorney Robert Berlin said. But when officers got there minutes later, they found the couple dead, he said.

Villa Park police said they also received a 911 call reporting multiple gunshots coming from the home. Before finding the couple dead, officers who arrived were able to remove two teenage children and the family dog from the house.

The DuPage County MERIT SWAT team along with Villa Park Police officers entered the home and found the couple dead in a bedroom, and a gun was found next to Winston Elguezabal, according to police.

A couple of weeks ago, Elguezabal was arrested on two counts of domestic battery. The state's attorney's office did not recommend that he be jailed until trial.

Police said Elguezabal had a firearm owner's identification card, but no guns. Under the terms of his release, he was to have no contact with his wife and surrender his FOID card to Villa Park police, which he did shortly after.

"In cases such as these, time is of the essence, both before and after the crime. I believe it is time to revisit the current law and take time out of the equation," Berlin said in a statement Saturday.

Under the SAFE-T Act, which took effect last year, prosecutors must gather information about a case and decide "in a very short amount of time" whether to argue for jailing the suspect before trial, Berlin said.

"In some cases, prosecutors must base their decision solely on the complaint and the Domestic Violence Report, which may not contain all pertinent information." he said. "In the aftermath of this horrific incident, I intend to meet with all stakeholders to enhance protections for victims of domestic battery and improve the manner and timeliness in which information is provided to prosecutors, while still meeting the requirements of the Safe-T Act."

In DuPage County, only 39 percent of all requests to jail domestic battery suspects until trial are granted, he said.

"This seemingly low percentage demonstrates just how difficult it is for prosecutors to convince a judge that there are no conditions of pre-trial release that can be imposed to ensure the accused does not re-offend and should be cause for concern for all of us," Berlin said. "Perhaps a legislative fix or internal remedy could improve this outcome. Perhaps both."

In his statement, Berlin offered his condolences to the entire Elguezabal family.