WHEATON,
Ill. (AP) — A suburban Chicago woman stabbed her 7-year-old son 100
times then turned the knife on a 5-year-old girl who witnessed the
killing, as both children begged for their lives, a prosecutor said
Thursday.
Elzbieta Plackowska, 40, told investigators she stabbed
the children and slashed their throats on Tuesday night at the home in
Naperville because she was angry with her husband, a truck driver who
was often away, DuPage County State's Attorney Robert Berlin said.
Plackowska
told investigators her husband left her alone to care for her son
Justin and work as a maid, which she felt was beneath her, Berlin said
at a bond hearing.
"She told the detectives that she thought by
killing Justin she would make her husband hurt the way she hurt in their
relationship," Berlin said.
Plackowska told investigators she
found Justin and Olivia Dworakowski — whom she was babysitting that
night — jumping on the bed, Berlin said.
"She had grabbed the
knife and she made both victims kneel and begin praying. She began
stabbing her son Justin and told him he was going to heaven tonight. He
pleaded for his life and told her to stop. But she continued stabbing
him until he was dead," he said at a news conference after the hearing.
"She
then turned her attention to 5-year-old Olivia and began stabbing her
with the knife multiple times. She, as well, pleaded for her life, but
the defendant continued to stab her until she was deceased."
Plackowska killed Olivia because she had witnessed the attack on Justin, Berlin said.
The
slayings took place at the home of Olivia's mother who works nights as a
nurse and had left her daughter in the woman's care before. Plackowska
also stabbed the two family dogs.
"In all my years in law
enforcement, this is the most gruesome and horrific crime scene that I
have seen," Naperville Police Chief Bob
Marshall said at the news conference. Naperville is 25 miles west of Chicago.
Investigators found two blood-stained knives; one in the kitchen sink and another in Plackowska's car, Berlin said.
After
the killings, Plackowska left a message on the answering machine of a
Naperville church saying she had done something bad and needed
assistance, Berlin said.
Plackowska initially told investigators
that a stalker had broken into the home where Olivia lived with her
mother, and that it was the stalker who killed the children. She later
said the children were evil and that she was fighting the devil in the
house, Berlin said at the hearing.
When police confronted her
about the inconsistencies during hours of questioning, Plackowska
admitted that she lashed out because she was angry with her husband, he
said.
Marshall said several of the investigators knew Olivia after
she was reported missing in August when she went to the wrong
kindergarten class on the first day of school.
The officers told him "she was such a sweet and loving little girl," Marshall said.
Plackowska
arrived in the United States from her native Poland on a tourist visa
12 years ago, said Berlin. She is not a U.S. citizen and authorities
were trying to verify her immigration status. Berlin said she has no
prior history of violence, although she had a misdemeanor DUI from about
10 years ago.
DuPage County Judge
John Kinsella
ordered Plackowska held without bond. Plackowska didn't speak during
the hearing other than to indicate she could not afford an attorney. The
judge appointed a public defender.
Shumanis pleaded guilty in September to charges including retail theft and robbery of a motor vehicle.
