Crime & Safety
No Bond For Man Charged With Murdering Wheaton Woman
Myron Ester, 40, is accused of killing Linda Valez and burying her body in a Glen Ellyn park, prosecutors said.
A judge on Wednesday ordered a 40-year-old homeless man to be held without bond in the gruesome stabbing death of a Wheaton woman.
Myron D. Ester, 40, was charged with one count of first-degree murder in the death on Linda Valez, 33. Judge Robert Klemann made the ruling during a hearing at the DuPage County Courthouse in Wheaton.
Ester appeared in person wearing a yellow jumpsuit. He switched between looking down at the ground and back up again as Assistant State's Attorney Tim Diamond detailed Ester's relationship with Valez.
It was difficult at first to understand Diamond and Klemann as they spoke in the courtroom, which was filled with attorneys and family members for other cases. Valez's mother Gloria Araujo sat in the front row and said she wanted to hear what was being said.
"This man killed my daughter," Araujo said out loud. The courtroom quieted quickly as a deputy warned her that another "outburst"Â would get her removed from court.
Diamond said Ester stabbed Valez 34 times during an argument late Sept. 24 or early Sept. 25 at Panfish Park in Glen Ellyn. Ester initially denied knowing Valez's whereabouts but then changed his story when confronted with evidence, including footage of him and Valez on Sept. 24 leaving the Glen Ellyn McDonald's on the 400 block of Roosevelt Road.Â
Valez had family in the area but was homeless by choice, her friends told Patch. She had tried to break off her relationship with Ester, but he refused to leave her, Diamond said.
The Night She Disappeared
After they left McDonald's on Sept. 24, Valez and Ester walked a couple blocks east to Panfish Park in Glen Ellyn. There they drank and later got into an argument, according to Diamond.Ester told police that Valez pulled a knife on him but he was able to take it from her. Then he said he passed out and could not remember the rest of the evening.
At about 2 a.m. Sept. 25, Ester appeared at a Glen Ellyn fire station to seek treatment for a cut on his hand. He was transported to a local hospital and told those who cared for him that he could not remember how he injured himself, Diamond said.
Police said a witness reported seeing Ester in the park on Sept. 24.
Where's Linda?
Diamond said Valez usually checks in with her family, so they filed a missing person report when they didn't hear from her. The family began to check around town and so did police.Valez was known to go to Panfish Park, so on Saturday morning an officer did a foot patrol there. He found a clearing in a wooded area that looked suspicious. It was Valez, buried in a shallow grave.
Araujo sobbed into her lap as the assistant state's attorney described her daughter's injuries. She had facial injuries, including one stab wound through an eyeball and into her brain, Diamond said. She also had defensive wounds on her arms indicating that she held them up during the attack.
Finding EsterÂ
Investigators looked to Ester as a suspect, but he left town. They eventually found him on Sunday hiding in the basement of a friend's house in Naperville.A witness said that Ester spoke to a witness and admitted that he killed Valez, then later said he was joking and said that it was just an argument, Diamond said.Â
A man in the gallery called Ester a "son of a (expletive)" under his breath as Ester was led out of the courtroom.
Ester was appointed a public defender at the start of the hearing. The next court date for his case is Oct. 8.Â
This story will be updated.
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