Chicago police charged a woman with murder after they discovered her landlord’s remains inside a freezer in their home Monday, officials announced Wednesday.
Tenants reported their landlord, Frances Walker, 69, missing on Monday after they hadn’t seen her in over a day and heard a loud scream around 2 a.m. local time. Walker lived on the first floor of her two-story home and rented out its rooms to tenants, police said. When police were called to the home Monday evening, they discovered dismembered remains inside a freezer, police said.
A person of interest was immediately clear, police said. Sandra Kolalou, 36, lived on the first floor with Walker and refused to talk to police when they arrived at the residence to investigate Walker’s disappearance, police said. The other tenants had reported being afraid of Kolalou in the past for showing aggressive behavior, police said.
Kolalou left the residence in a tow truck she ordered to tow her car from another location while police investigated the residence for the missing Walker.
Tenants were “afraid for” the tow truck driver so they exchanged numbers with him before he left with Kolalou, police said. The tow truck driver informed the tenants that Kolalou had him drive her to a nearby beach where she deposited a large plastic bag in a garbage can.
Detectives went to that location to retrieve the can, where they found bloody rags, police said. The driver also told tenants that Kolalou threatened him with a knife.
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“Due to the communication between the tow truck driver and the tenants, officers were able to get to that scene immediately and place the defendant in custody for pulling a knife on the tow truck driver,” Chicago Police Chief of Detectives Brendan Deenihan said at a press conference Wednesday.
Kolalou invoked her right to remain silent. After further investigation at the home, police later charged Kolalou with the Walker’s murder, Deenihan said.
A search of the home revealed blood inside Walker’s bedroom, police said. Police believe that Kolalou may have dismembered Walker with butcher knives on the first floor, which the rest of the tenants did not have access to, according to Deenihan.
Detectives learned that Walker, whose remains were identified by the Cook County Medical examiner Thursday, had served Kolalou an eviction notice as recently as Saturday, Deenihan said.
“That very well could possibly be what escalated this into the defendant becoming extremely angry and committing this horrific act,” Deenihan said.
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Neighbors told ABC 7 Chicago Walker was an active member of the neighborhood who offered shelter to women in need and played the piano at local churches.
“She’s a really good person and bad things happen to good people sometimes,” Walker’s brother Arnold Walker told ABC 7 Chicago. “Nobody deserves what happened to her.”