Neighbor Charged With Murder Of Elgin Artist
Updated 03/18/13 - 10:31 a.m.
ELGIN, Ill. (CBS) -- Bond was set at $5 million on Monday for an ex-con charged with stabbing an Elgin artist to death, after breaking into her home earlier this month.
CBS 2's Susanna Song reports Lisa Koziol-Ellis was found dead in her home at 1 Garden Crescent Court in Elgin, less than two weeks after she and her husband had moved in. Her husband, Dash Ellis, found her body in their home when he returned from work around 2:30 a.m. on March 2.
Koziol-Ellis, who went by the nickname "Foxy Goat Lisa," was a burlesque performer, and also sketched and designed jewelry.
Man Charged With Killing Elgin Artist
Elgin Police Chief Jeff Swoboda said a neighbor, 34-year-old Paul Johnson, was arrested Friday during a SWAT team raid at the townhouse complex at Garden Crescent Court.
Kane County State's Attorney Joe McMahon said Johnson was charged with first-degree murder, home invasion, and burglary.
WBBM Newsradio's Bernie Tafoya reports, at a bond hearing Monday morning, prosecutors said Johnson broke into Koziol-Ellis' home, intending to steal a DVD player, and ran into her inside the townhouse. He allegedly stabbed her with a screwdriver, then grabbed a knife and repeatedly stabbed her until she was dead.
Johnson allegedly fled the scene, then returned later to try and clean up.
A judge ordered him held on $5 million bond. He faces up to 100 years in prison if convicted.
Johnson has at least two felony convictions on his record. In 2000, he was convicted of armed robbery and sentenced to 11 years in prison. In 2010, he was convicted of residential burglary and sentenced to 4 years in prison, but was released on parole after serving fewer than 18 months.
One neighbor said people in the townhouse complex were aware Johnson had been in and out of prison, but she said "he has been living next to me for a while, so that was shocking news."
"It was terrifying. It's way too close. I mean, it's way too close no matter where, but just two doors down; way too close," she said. "The only thing I keep going back to is I have two big dogs that bark."
Koziol-Ellis' family and friends had raised $15,000 for information leading to the killer, but Swoboda and McMahon said they could not comment on whether the reward led to any evidence in the case.
Her death was the first murder in Elgin this year. There were two murders in Elgin last year, and five in 2011.
