HUNTLEY, Ill. (CBS) — The police chief in Huntley says “it’s frustrating” that a woman ended up being murdered after allowing her boyfriend to return, even though he had beaten her in the past.

As WBBM Newsradio’s Mike Krauser reports, Huntley police Chief John Perkins says the case should serve as a wake-up call to domestic violence victims.

LISTEN: WBBM Newsradio’s Mike Krauser reports

The Crystal Lake Patch reports seven months after Michelle Mathieu, 52, was beaten and dragged by her hair by her boyfriend – Robert Signorile, 43 – police say Signorile beat Mathieu to death using his hands and feet.

After being arrested in August in the earlier attack, Signorile was convicted of a domestic violence charge, and was sentenced to probation, along with a $263 fine and an order to undergo anger counseling.

Signorile disappeared for a while, but neighbors in the Sun City community where Mathieu lived – well aware of what happened previously – noticed he was back at the home he had shared with Mathieu of the 12900 block of Rock Springs Lane, the Patch reported.

Police say when one of Mathieu’s relatives called them to check on her on March 18, they found both Mathieu and Signorile in the home. Mathieu was unconscious and battered.

No order of protection had been sought by the victim, the Patch reported.

Mathieu was taken to Sherman Hospital in Elgin, where she died this past Saturday. Signorile was arrested on March 19, and charged with first-degree murder Monday.

Speaking to the patch, Perkins called the case “tragic,” and said there is very little police can do until the victim comes forward. Police cannot control “what happens in the sanctity of a home,” Perkins told the Patch.

The Sun-Times Media Wire contributed to this report.