Ex-Cop Charged With Murder Of Oak Forest Woman
OAK FOREST (STMW) -- The estranged husband of an Oak Forest woman was charged Monday with her murder, nearly 18 months after her body was discovered in the trunk of her car in Midlothian, according to Oak Forest Mayor Hank Kuspa.
LISTEN: Newsradio 780's Mary Frances Bragiel Reports
Podcast
Kuspa said he was at an awards ceremony at McCormick Place Monday afternoon with Police Chief Greg Anderson when they received a call from the Cook County state's attorney's office, giving police authority to arrest Norberto Rodriguez, a former Chicago police officer, in the June 2009 death of his wife, Irma.
Kuspa said Rodriguez was arrested later Monday afternoon, but he did not know where the arrest occurred.
Attempts to reach Anderson and police detectives were unsuccessful Monday night.
The body of Irma Rodriguez, 45, a mother of three, was found June 1, 2009 with multiple gunshot wounds in the trunk of her white 2002 Pontiac Grand Am at 148th Street and Kilpatrick Avenue, as she was days away from finalizing a divorce from her husband.
The two had a tumultuous and sometimes violent 15-year marriage. In 1997, Norberto Rodriguez was charged with attempted first-degree murder after an argument in which he was accused of shooting Irma in the hand.
He was acquitted of the charges but lost his police job in December 1998.
In 2001, Irma filed an order of protection against her husband, saying he physically abused her during an altercation, and also sought protection for her daughter from a previous marriage and her son with Norberto. A judge granted the order, but Irma terminated it three weeks later, court records show.
In April 2002, Norberto was charged in a scheme to transport four kilos of heroin from Los Angeles to Chicago for distribution.
He later pleaded guilty to a charge of possession of heroin with intent to sell it and was sentenced to 52 months in federal prison.
Irma's family said she kept the family together as best she could while Norberto was in prison and frequently visited him.
When he was released in January 2007, family members said Norberto proclaimed himself a changed man. But soon afterward, he became violent again, they said, prompting Irma to file for divorce in September 2007.
