Life Sentence In Hinsdale Murder Upheld By Appellate Court

HINSDALE, IL – An appeals court has affirmed the life sentence for a man convicted of killing a Hinsdale woman in her home, prosecutors announced Tuesday.

In June 2020, Dominic Sanders, now 35, of University Park, was sentenced to life for killing Andrea Urban in 2017.

In his petition seeking a reduced sentence, Sanders said the trial court did not adequately consider his rehabilitative potential when imposing the sentence.

In its recent decision, the 2nd District Appellate Court concluded, "In this case, the records overwhelmingly supported the trial court's exercise of its discretion in imposing the defendant's sentence."

At the 2020 sentencing hearing, DuPage County Judge Brian Telander characterized Urban's murder as "savagely violent, savagely vicious, utterly wicked and evil," according to a news release from the DuPage County State's Attorney's Office.

The judge said Sanders' criminal history was "horrendous," adding "the public needs to be protected from you forever."

On the afternoon of May 4, 2017, Hinsdale police responded to a 911 call about an unresponsive woman, identified as Urban, in a house in the 700 block of Town Place. Upon their arrival at the home, officers found Urban lying on the kitchen floor with apparent knife injuries to her head and neck.

An investigation found that in the morning hours of May 4, 2017, Sanders entered Urban's house. Once inside the home, a fight between Sanders and Urban ensued, resulting in Sanders repeatedly striking Urban in the head and slashing her throat, authorities said.

After the murder, Sanders stole family heirloom jewelry from the house and left. On May 25, 2017, Sanders was taken into custody and arrested for an unrelated Will County traffic violation.

After a nine-day trial in January, a jury found Sanders guilty of first-degree murder, home invasion and residential burglary.

"The brutal, merciless murder of Andrea Urban destroyed a loving family and shook the entire community to its core," DuPage County State's Attorney Robert Berlin said in Tuesday's news release. "The Appellate Court’s decision ensures that Mr. Sanders will spend the rest of his life behind bars, a sentence he has most certainly earned."