Brother Stabs Sister To Death With Butcher Knife In Evanston: Police

EVANSTON, IL — Authorities said an Evanston man hacked his sister to death with a 15-inch butcher's knife after she complained he was not doing enough housework.

Karen Aphour, 30, was found lying in a pool of her blood on the kitchen floor of the home she shared with her mother and siblings in the 100 block of Callan Avenue around 9:30 p.m. Saturday, according to prosecutors.

Evanston Fire Department paramedics rushed her to St. Francis Hospital, but she was pronounced dead shortly before 10 p.m., police said.

Andy Aphour, her 26-year-old brother, is charged with the first-degree murder of his sister. Prosecutors said he attacked her with the knife after she complained he and his brother were not pulling their weight around the house.

"When [Karen Aphour] was finished cleaning up the dishes from the meal, she began to yell at [Andy Aphour] and their brother," Assistant State's Attorney Jenna Reinhardt said, "that they were not doing enough around the house to be helpful."

Andy Aphour went to complain to his mother about his sister, and she told him to forget about it, Reinhardt said, but he did not.

"Using a butcher knife, [Andy Aphour] began stabbing his sister, the victim, multiple times," Reinhardt said, asking the judge to hold him without bond at an initial court appearance Monday.

Their mother heard the commotion and saw her bloodied daughter lying in the floor of the kitchen as Andy Aphour stood several feet away holding the bloody knife, according to the prosecutor.

Andy Aphour was restrained by his mother and brother, who managed to take the knife away, and continued to aggressively move toward his sister as if he was going to continue attacking her until police arrived, Reinhardt said.

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Once in custody, Andy Aphour "made statements admitting to using a big kitchen knife to stab the victim," according to the prosecutor.

Hal Garfinkel, Andy Aphour's defense attorney, suggested there could be a viable claim of self-defense in the case.

"This is an allegation of an unwitnessed incident, nobody witnessed this at all," Garfinkel said.

Garfinkel said he had been told that his client has been diagnosed with schizophrenia, and the confession described by police may not be admissible in court.

Cook County Associate Judge Anthony Calabrese denied prosecutors' motion to order Andy Aphour held without bond. Reinhardt had described him as a flight risk and said his family had discussed taking him back to his native Ghana.

"This is certainly a tragic circumstance," Calabrese said, noting that Andy Aphour has no criminal record. "I believe that there are means by which bond could be set that would prevent the serious concerns that the state has from coming to fruition."

Andy Aphour would need to post the $30,000 cash portion of his bond and relinquish his passport to authorities in order to be released ahead of trial.

According to an online resume, Karen Aphour studied public policy at Northwestern University and worked as a graduate student assistant at Northwestern University libraries. She previously worked for the Ghanaian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration.

The Cook County Medical Examiner's Office ruled her death a homicide caused by multiple sharp force injuries.

Andy Aphour is due back in court May 2 to be indicted.