Not the First Time Geneva Woman Tried to Drug Husband: Prosecutors

GENEVA, IL - A Geneva woman has been ordered to be held without bail after authorities said she intentionally killed her husband last week after she slipped six sleeping pills into his smoothie, the Chicago Tribune reports.

Julia L. Gutierrez, 53, is charged with two counts of first-degree murder in connection with the death of Eduardo Gutierrez, 53, whose body was found in their home on Thursday. Julia, of 39 Crissey Ave., was taken into custody on Sunday afternoon, according to online jail records.

Prosecutors told the court on Wednesday it was not the first time Julia Gutierrez had tried to drug her husband. Charges were never filed against Julia when, in 2002, police responded to the couple’s home after prosecutors said Julia put 10 prescription sleeping pills into her husband’s milkshake, according to the Chicago Tribune. Julia was taken to a psychiatric hospital and Eduardo did recover following that incident, according to media reports.

But he was not as fortunate this past week.

Police said that at some point between Jan. 26 and Jan. 28, Julia Gutierrez mixed 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. WGN reports Julia tried to use the sedative to kill herself and was found by police in a “tranquilized state.”

Police did not indicate who made the call for the well-being check.

Several residents in Rock City, a town northwest of Rockford, called police on Jan. 28 to report they had received a package containing $40,000 in cash and a $5,000 check and a note from Julia Gutierrez that said they should keep the check for themselves and donate the cash to charities, according to the Daily Herald.

The not also said Julia thought her husband was suffering because of her illness, which she told police was a result of environmental factor, according to the article. The Daily Herald report the note read: “I’ve been holding on all this time for him, but I can’t do it anymore.”

Eduardo Gutierrez is being remembered as “a devote man of faith,” according to a CBS Chicago report (see the full video above). He was a member of North Aurora Seventh-Day Aventist Church.

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