Carpentersville Woman Charged With Stabbing Older Sister To Death
CARPENTERSVILLE, Ill. (STMW) -- A woman with a history of mental illness—who stabbed a man to death 13 years ago—is facing murder charges for stabbing her older sister to death Monday night in northwest suburban Carpentersville.
Sandra Baumgartner, 53, is charged with three counts of first-degree murder for the death of her sister, 57-year-old Sharon Baumgartner, a statement from Carpentersville police said.
Neighbors called police about 9:45 p.m. Monday after hearing a disturbance at the elder sister's apartment in the 100 block of South Lincoln Avenue in Carpentersville, police said.
Officers found Sharon Baumgartner bleeding heavily, and she died a short time later.
Police found her sister in a wooded area nearby after a search lasting several hours, police said. The statement did not disclose a motive for the attack.
Both women lived in the same building, but in separate apartments, police said.
Sandra Baumgartner is expected to appear in court for a bond hearing Thursday in St. Charles.
In May 2002, while living in Memphis, Tenn., Baumgartner was found not guilty by reason of insanity of the murder of Daniel Morgan, the Elgin Courier-News is reporting.
According to court records, in April 2001, Baumgartner, who had been a registered nurse, got into an altercation with Morgan at his apartment and stabbed him multiple times.
At her bench trial "the defendant presented evidence that at the time of the offense, she had schizoaffective disorder, bipolar type, and was not able to appreciate the wrongfulness of her conduct."
In April 2003, a Tennessee judge remanded Baumgartner's case to the trial court for modifying the terms of her mandatory outpatient treatment to reinstate a condition that she live with her parents.
Baumgartner's mother, Carol, died in 2010 at the age of 78. According to her online obituary, the Baumgartners moved to Memphis in 1981. Sources said Baumgartner's 87-year-old father is in a nursing home.
According to Baumgartner's LinkedIn page, she received an associate's degree from Elgin Community College in 1981 and was currently enrolled at Westwood College by O'Hare Airport in Chicago.
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2014. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)