Crime & Safety

Lawsuit Filed Against Woman Accused of Fatally Poisoning Husband With Smoothie

The attorney handling the estate of Eduardo Gutierrez is seeking monetary damages from Julia Gutierrez.

A wrongful death has been filed against the Geneva woman accused of fatally poisoning her husband with a smoothie earlier this year, the Daily Herald reports.

Attorney Timothy Reuland is in charge of handling the estate of Eduardo Gutierrez and has filed the lawsuit seeking monetary damages from Julia Gutierrez, according to the newspaper. The lawsuit is not necessarily meant to block Julia from using the couple’s Geneva home in the 0 to 99 block of Crissy Avenue.

Gutierrez, 53, is currently being held without bail in the Kane County Jail on a charge of first-degree murder. She entered a not guilty plea earlier this month during a hearing where a Kane County judge also denied Guitierrez’s request to set bail, according to the Aurora Beacon-News.

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Sometime between Jan. 26 and Jan. 28, Julia Gutierrez is accused of mixing Temazepam, which is a sedative used to treat insomnia, into a smoothie and then gave the drink to her husband, according to police and media reports. Eduardo Gutierrez was unaware of the Temazepam, consumed the drink and died as a result, according to a press release from the Kane County State’s Attorney’s Office.

A telephone call for a well-being check was placed to Geneva Police the evening of Jan. 28. Geneva Police responded to the Gutierrez home at about 6:19 p.m. that evening and found Eduardo Gutierrez dead and Julia Gutierrez in need of medical assistance. Julia Gutierrez was taken to a local hospital.

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WGN reports Julia tried to use the sedative to kill herself and was found by police in a “tranquilized state.”

If convicted, Gutierrez would be sentenced to between 20 and 60 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections.

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