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Arlington Heights Woman Killed In Wisconsin; Estranged Husband Arrested

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CHICAGO (CBS) -- An Arlington Heights woman was slain in southern Wisconsin on Wednesday night, and her estranged husband has been taken into custody and accused of attacking her with an ax.

Wisconsin authorities said the woman had fled her home in Arlington Heights, and was staying with friends in Mount Pleasant, Wisc., after they offered her shelter and safety from her husband. The woman, whose name has not yet been released, had filed a restraining order against him in Arlington Heights.

The suspect has been identified as Christian Loga-negru. He is being held in Racine County, Wisc. on charges of first-degree intentional homicide, kidnapping and mayhem. Police the mayhem charge stemmed from the suspect trying to disfigure his wife with the hatchet.

Mount Pleasant Police said he found his wife in Mount Pleasant, dragged her out of the friend's home, and attacked her with the weapon.

A nearby resident said her husband heard something that he thought was the cry of a coyote.

"He realized it wasn't a coyote, that it was a person screaming, and he ran upstairs to our second floor, and looked down, and by that time the act had already happened," she said.

Her husband saw the man pulling his wife across the front lawn, toward the street.

"He had put her in the back of the car, and my husband said 'What the heck are you doing?' Not those exact words, but something," she said. "The guy, calm as a cucumber, kind of just said there isn't anything to see here."

Police said the suspect took his wife to a motel, and it was from that motel that authorities got a call about a woman bleeding from the head.

She was taken to a hospital, where she died.

Police in Arlington Heights said the woman had a court appearance scheduled for this Monday, to make a temporary order of protection permanent.

Arlington Heights Police said they have been called to the home three times in the past eight months.

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